Deception
by Sandfire Kat
Summary: When Hiccup and Toothless find a Night Fury named Nightflight, she wants Toothless to come back home with her. Toothless says no, but he realized a little too late that Nightflight wont take no for an answer.
1. Chapter 1

The freezing wind blasted against Hiccup's face, the cold winter sun doing nothing to shed warmth across the island of Berk. But then again, Hiccup was used to it, and as Toothless shot up into the sky, wings beating furiously as they climbed higher and higher, he wouldn't have gone inside if it was offered. He let out a loud whoop, leaning forward eagerly as Toothless shot downwards. A whirl of adrenaline sped through the boy, and Toothless's wings shot out around him, the dragon stopping in his descent and swooping forward.

Dark clouds hung over the frozen ocean underneath, heavy with snow. Hiccup had to squint to see accordingly, but it didn't put a damper on either of their spirits. It was far too early in the morning for other Vikings to go out and fly, leaving the whole sky to the two. Thanks to Toothless, Hiccup never really believed in 'sleeping in' anymore.

"Alright, here we go!" Hiccup hollered above the wind, Toothless yipping excitedly in a reply. Slipping his prosthetic leg from its hook, Hiccup straightened, standing up shakily as Toothless's wings started to beat more unevenly. Hiccup had been perfecting his jumps, and he had been making a lot of progress. As the large rock came closer and closer to the two, Hiccup narrowed his eyes carefully, bending his knees as he braced himself for the leap.

Right as he threw himself forward, something moved in the corner of his eye, the boy's head whipping around as a black shape flashed past him. Toothless let out a loud yowl, snapping Hiccup's attention just as he crashed into the rock face-first, a small groan of pain escaping him as he did so. Hands shooting forward, Hiccup's fingernails dug into the surface of the rock, white scratches appearing as he struggled to find a grip on the slippery surface.

Glancing down, a stab of fear went through him as Hiccup caught sight of Toothless loosing air, the Night Fury flapping furiously as he looked at Hiccup with fear. The Viking faltered as he looked at Toothless, eyes widening as he looked back up in the direction where the strange flash had shown itself. A small sound made its way to the child's ears, and the Viking froze as he realized that the sound was familiar. It couldn't be possible…it was-

Hiccup let out a yell as a burst of purple fire exploded forward, careening for the boy almost quicker than he could react. Looking back down at Toothless, Hiccup closed his eyes tightly and let go, the fireball crashing into the rock with a purple explosion right after he let himself slip. Cold air sliced through his vest, chilling him to the bone as he cracked open one eye, a wave of relief crashing over him as the dragon floundered forward to meet his human.

Looking back up, Hiccup's heart froze as it finally came into sight. A large Night Fury. It was slender and smaller than Toothless, but it's eyes burned with anger as it swooped forward, looking with a huff at the empty rock. It was strange to see the other black tailfin, Hiccup was so used to the red one that was made for Toothless.

Before he could do anything else though, he crashed into Toothless, the dragon jerking under the weight of Hiccup. Flipping over onto his stomach as quickly as he could, Hiccup pushed his leg back into its position, his dragon's wings immediately straightening, beats becoming more controlled as the Night Fury shot upwards, just barley grazing the frozen surface of the ocean. Hiccup swallowed uncomfortably as Toothless let out a loud roar, eyes narrowed into furious slits as he saw the other Night Fury. Flattening closer to the dragon's back, craning his neck to the side as he tried to see what was going on.

The Night Fury blinked, starting as it saw the human riding on the back of the strange-acting dragon, eyes slowly narrowing. "What's going on?" She barked out, sweeping forward and landing neatly on what was left of the ledge of the rock. She saw the human's forehead crease slightly, and she bared her teeth at the small thing. He couldn't even understand the dragon's language. So what was he doing on the back of a Night Fury?

The human's pet growled as he came to a stop in midair, hovering as he looked at her furiously. "What are you doing?" He snapped angrily.

"What am _I_doing?" She repeated stiffly, eyeing the dragon as if he had grown another head and became a Zippleback. "What are _you_doing? What is that insolent human doing on your back?" She shot another glare at the human, the thing tightening his hold on the dragon as she did so. "Humans are our enemies! Why aren't you with the other Night Furies?"

"Humans are different than what we used to think!" The dragon said sharply. "They don't kill us anymore, we are friends with them! You have obviously not have noticed that the Master has been killed. Hiccup killed it and brought peace between dragons and humans, we all live on Berk now."

The Night Fury blinked, relaxing and tilting her head to the side. "Hiccup?" She echoed. "What's a Hiccup?" Not waiting for the new dragon to reply, she drew herself up, sticking her nose into the air smugly. "We Night Furies were always above the so-called 'Master'. We never had to steal food for it, if you were a real Night Fury, you would have realized that. We all lived in the same pack together."

"I know." The dragon said sourly, deadpanning at her. "I lived in it before I found my place." There was a pause for a moment, the two dragons becoming quiet as they looked at each other thoughtfully. Hiccup straightened slightly, looking at the new Night Fury with sudden interest. He looked at Toothless, smile fading as he realized that his dragon didn't seem to happy to be seeing another of his kind. Hiccup always thought that he would be overjoyed to find another to be with, and upon closer look, it appeared to be a female. But Toothless remained cautious, glaring at the she-dragon as he refused to get any closer.

The female blinked rapidly, eyes suddenly brightening. "It's you! I knew you looked familiar to me! That's why I went to try and help you get away from…" She trailed off, shaking her head once to herself. "But it really IS you, right? When you didn't come back, we were all so worried about you! I missed you-"

"My name is Toothless now." Toothless interrupted.

"…But you remember me, right?" She prompted, kneading the face of the rock eagerly. "I'm Nightflight! You remember me, right…Toothless?" She made a face, as if the word was disgusting to her. Toothless opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off as Hiccup straightened fully, looking carefully at the new dragon. She growled dangerously at him, flattening her ears to her head.

"Hey- it's alright." Hiccup said softly. There was a tremor of nervousness in his voice, and he quickly pushed it away. Night Furies were of course the dangerous dragon out there, but if he could train Toothless this well, it was possible to do it again. He edged Toothless closer, and reached out his hand to her snout slowly, looking down at the saddle as he did so.

Nightflight blinked, looking at the boy oddly. She roared loudly as he came too close, Hiccup immediately drawing back with a small jump. Toothless narrowed his eyes at her, "Nightflight." He said warningly, the she-dragon making a face as she saw that her friend was getting protective of the boy. Protective…she couldn't even imagine it. "Nightflight, you have to give the humans a chance. They aren't as bad as we made them out to be. Not anymore."

Shifting from one foot to another, Nightflight glared at the boy sharply, drawing her tail tighter around herself. "It must be something." She muttered, glancing at Toothless quickly. "For them to make you stay with them and be so committed at the same time. What did they do to you?"

"Nothing." Toothless said sincerely. "Just come back to Berk with us. Hiccup and I can show you, and then you'll see why. You just can't attack anybody." He added, narrowing his eyes. "Especially Hiccup. Alright?" When Nightflight was quiet for a moment or two, Toothless repeated his words, sharper this time. "Hiccup is my human. We all have our own humans now. If you come back with us, then maybe you can get your own."

Nightflight blinked, giving a small nod to her old friend. Toothless did a strange thing with his mouth as he looked back at his…Hiccup? Was that the Hiccup? Toothless lifted up both sides of his mouth, and Hiccup did the same back to him, a gesture that was unfamiliar to Nightflight as she tilted her head to the side.

"Alright, she'll follow us?" The boy asked, looking over at her carefully. "We have to be careful about this, then." Nightflight looked at him sourly, rolling her eyes and looking at the blackened rock angrily. "Let's go, buddy!" He said, glancing back one more time at Nightflight before turning on the dragon and starting back the way they had come.

Nightflight paused for a moment, remaining still as she looked after Toothless. He certainly wasn't the dragon she had known before, he had changed. Her claws slid out and she narrowed her eyes into slits, grimacing slightly. What had happened to change him? It must have been the human, she decided darkly. A rush of anger swamped her for a moment or two, and she glared at the human's back. Toothless was perfect the way he was. And he didn't have an idiotic name such as…Toothless.

Her thoughts rushed back to what Toothless had said before: "If you come back with us, then maybe you can get your own." Her own master. Her own ruler. Somebody to control her and think that her rewards would be pets and coos. She growled under her breath, "I really doubt that, Toothless."

But alas, she pushed herself off up from the rock, wings shooting out and beating through the bitterly cold winds. What was with the weather here? It wasn't like at home, she must have gotten turned around. Maybe that was what happened with Toothless. And he ended up getting stuck here.

Well, she wouldn't let that happen to her. And neither to him. He was mixed up here, she could tell. She had to take him back to their home, where they belonged. And that little twig of a human was certainly not going to rule over him anymore.

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A/N: So this was more of an introductory chapter.

I hope you all liked! And I hope you will give me some feedback really soon! :D


	2. Chapter 2

"Look at it! It's so pretty!"

"I want it! I want it! It's mine! DON'T TOUCH IT."

"I'm gonna touch it! You'd better stoooopppp meeeee!"

"Nobody is going to touch HER." Hiccup snapped, eyeing the crowd that had formed in front of the boy and the two Night Furies. The children who had been shouting back and forth at one another shrank back as the female snarled at them, narrowing her eyes into slits. "She's not trained yet-"

"What do you mean she's not trained yet?" Hiccup winced as his father's voice sounded in the mass of the crowd, a heartbeat later Stoick pushed himself to the front. He looked at the new Night Fury with slight distaste in his eyes, Toothless was barking words back at the dragon, and she replied with an angry huff.

Hiccup cleared his throat. "Well, not COMPLETELY trained." He muttered. "I mean- she followed us here, right?" When Stoick did nothing but deadpan at his son, Hiccup started over. "I was flying out with Toothless when we found her. She was all alone, I figured we might want to have her here." He expertly skipped the fact she nearly killed him.

Stoick watched the female critically, narrowing his eyes at the angry flutter in her wings, and the suspicious flickering of her eyes as she growled at whoever came close to her. Hiccup didn't even seem to want to get close, Toothless stood between the two as if separating the two from one another. The Night Fury's eyes were trained on the female, small mutters coming from the dragon as he spoke to her in their language sharply. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He sighed.

"I promise I'll keep her away from the others for now." Hiccup improvised quickly. "We can go and stay by the cove! I can train her there, without any other people around to distract her. Just like I did with Toothless. It'll be fine." He turned back and flashed a smile at the female, which was returned with a glare.

Stoick paused for a moment, eyes thoughtful as he looked from Hiccup to the female Night Fury. Hiccup wore a large smile that was meant to be reassuring, while the new dragon's eyes were dull as she changed her glare to the chieftain. Finally he heaved a large sigh, looking down and shaking his head slowly. "Well, I suppose that you'd be the only one who could train this Night Fury." He said reluctantly.

"Yes!" Hiccup cheered. "I-"

"You can't stay with them though." Stoick said, Hiccup's smile slowly fading to be replaced by confusion. "You have to come back to the house at night, you can't spend the night there. Toothless can watch her at night, I don't trust her enough to let you stay there."

Hiccup paused for a moment, blinking rapidly. But then he recovered himself, smiling widely, "Alright. I'll just take them there right now and make sure she gets comfortable. She'll come around just like Toothless, you'll see." He turned and patted Toothless's snout affectionately, beckoning to the two dragons as he turned and started in the direction that led to the cove in which Toothless and him had first met.

Toothless's ears perked as he straightened, swinging his head to look behind at Nightflight. "Come on!" He called, turning and bounding after Hiccup. Nightflight made a disgusted face, but followed along anyway, quickening her pace so that she was beside Toothless. Her ears flattened as she felt the gazes of the humans fixed on her, making her uncomfortable. As if she wouldn't already have been; this was as close as she's ever gotten to a human, much less a whole tribe of them.

Toothless had turned out to be right. Nightflight eyed the dragons that were scattered around the clearing, all standing beside a singular person, which must have been 'their's'. But it didn't stop the she-dragon to growl under her throat as she spotted a Nadder nuzzling a girl, a loud purr coming from it as it did so. It was disgusting, dragons were meant to be wild creatures that the world was afraid of! Not small house pets for the humans to control.

Toothless didn't even show a smidge of what he used to be. Nightflight looked back over at the Night Fury and blinked slowly as she saw the black dragon hopping around Hiccup playfully, purring loudly as Hiccup tried to catch him. It was nothing like he used to be. He used to be brave and tough, all of the other Night Furies in the pack used to think he was going to be the new leader, a natural at taking charge. The dragon in front of her right now was not that dragon.

"Hiccup!" A yell made Nightflight spin around, claws digging into the ground as she spotted a blonde Viking running forward towards the boy. Toothless immediately skidded to a stop, whirling around and standing in front of her, glaring at her sharply. Rolling her eyes, Nightflight craned her neck to watch the girl through narrowed eyes. She had faltered for a moment, blue eyes trained on her for a moment or two before she turned back to Hiccup. "Are you sure you'll be able to handle her on your own?" She asked. "I can help you, if you want."

"I'm fine Astrid." Hiccup said easily. "I did this alone with Toothless. I can do it again, you shouldn't worry." When the girl still didn't looked assured, the boy laughed. "I promise I wont let her eat me."

Nightflight growled under her breath. "Wanna test that?" All too late, she realized that she had spoken a little too loud, Toothless reached out and paw and whacked her side, nearly sending her toppling over. Staggering slightly, she threw a flustered glare at the Night Fury. Thankfully Hiccup didn't notice, and as he bid the girl farewell, he started along the path once more. The village was disappearing behind them, and Nightflight breathed a small sigh of relief as it vanished from behind them.

"It's not bad at all once you get used to it." She started as Toothless spoke up.

She threw a withering look at her old friend. "Of course you would know." She grumbled, looking down sourly at the ground. "I cannot believe that you were the same dragon that I was friends with back at home. You're so much different now, a PET. And worse of all to a walking twig."

Toothless immediately flared. "Hiccup is a lot more than he looks." He snapped. "And I know that firsthand. And you're right- I'm NOT the same dragon. I changed because of Hiccup, and he changed because of me. We're partners."

"But don't you ever get homesick?" Nightflight asked, edging closer to him. "I know I would. He can't even understand what you're saying. There aren't even other Night Furies on this island for you to be with. Why don't you come back home with me?" She ignored Toothless's growl and plowed on. "Everybody has come to terms that you died; you're family and friends miss you. I bet if you flew back with me and stayed you would be much better off." She hesitated for a moment before adding in a low voice. "I missed you a lot. Please come back with me."

"Why can't you stay here?" Toothless asked, his footsteps crunching through the snow with a soft crunch for every step. His breath came out of his mouth in a cloud, furling and wavering slightly in the air before disappearing. Nightflight shivered at the sharp wind and drew her wings tighter to herself.

"Because I do not wish to become a plaything for the human children." She snorted. "Like any normal Night Fury would feel. You're tainted by the humans, you can't think right. None of these dragons here can. If you come back with me, then maybe-"

"I'm not tainted!" Toothless barked, cutting her off abruptly. Hiccup had been quiet as they spoke, walking on the other side of Toothless and looking at the two with something close to concern as they growled and bickered between one another. "None of the dragons are! The war between us had ended, I told you that already. And even if I COULD fly, I wouldn't go back with you. My place is here, with Hiccup."

Nightflight huffed out a breath, glaring at the saddle on the Night Fury's back with distaste. For a moment, it was quiet, Toothless looking at her steadily while she looked sourly at the thing on his back. Then confused realization wriggled its way into her head and she straightened. "What do you mean 'if you COULD fly?'" She asked carefully.

Toothless faltered in his steps for a moment, looking at her as if he was confused. But then he swung his tail forward, Nightflight catching sight of it for the first time. She tiled her head to the side, stopping in her tracks as she looked down at the tail. One half of it was exactly like her's, black and regular. But the other was bright red, a large white skull painted on the surface. It was fake, it wasn't real. She looked up with wide eyes, "What does this mean?" She asked quietly.

Her friend opened his mouth to answer her, when Hiccup shouted back to them. "Come on guys, we're here!" He yelled, beckoning Toothless over with one hand. The Night Fury snatched his tail back, spinning around and racing back to his human, leaving Nightflight to stare after him with something of disbelief. Hiccup paused as he tried to turn, catching sight of her and giving her an encouraging smile as he started forward to her. She immediately snarled, getting to her feet and jumping over the boy, slamming down behind him and jumping down into the cove without a second glance. That would teach him to try and touch her.

Toothless glared at her, but she ignored him rudely, "What happened to the other half of your tail?" She asked flatly. "You were flying this morning when I first found you, how did that happen?"

The male sighed shortly, shuffling over and showing his side to her, revealing a small metal contraption. "Hiccup controls the other half of the tail by putting his foot into this thing. I can't fly without him, otherwise I'll fall."

Nightflight's eyes flickered over to Hiccup, who was sliding down the rocks with difficulty. The dragon blinked as she saw the child's left leg replaced with a metal foothold, but she merely turned back to Toothless, rolling her eyes. "He hardly seems worthy enough to be riding a Night Fury. I bet you could kill him with one swipe of your paw."

"I would never do that!" Toothless roared loudly, Hiccup loosing his balance at the sudden yell as he fell the rest of the way down the rocks. Nightflight blinked slowly at Toothless, deadpanning at the dragon as she did so. But Toothless didn't even seem to notice the human's mistake. "Hiccup saved my life before. On the night that I ventured here, a net flew up and I got tangled in it. I crashed into the ground and that's how I lost my tailfin. Hiccup found me the next day and he almost killed me with a knife. But he didn't, he cut the ropes and set me free." He paused before he looked over at Hiccup. "I owe my life to him."

"…You said a net came from below?" Nightflight asked.

Toothless blinked, turning back to look at her, confused. "Yes."

"So it had to come from one of the Vikings that live here."

"…It wouldn't have come from the sky." Toothless said stiffly.

"Well, think of it this way. That Viking would have to have known where you fell, as they were the ones who shot you down in the first place." Nightflight said calmly, watching as Hiccup galloped over to Toothless. "And that person would also have brought a weapon with them, as they knew that they would find a dragon there. It wouldn't be by mere coincidence that a small young boy that could easily have been killed by a squirrel to be walking around holding a knife and looking for dragons."

Toothless said nothing, remaining silent as he looked at her blankly.

"Are we ready to start training?" Hiccup asked, looking at her anxiously. "Because first we'll need to-"

She didn't even bother to listen to the rest of what he had to say. She looked up at Toothless and smiled. This was it then. What would Toothless do when he figured out that the human he trusted so much had actually been the one to shoot him in the first place? Tore away one of his tailfins and grounded him forever. Tailfins never grew back, just as human legs never did. Nightflight's claws slid out slowly, tearing through the grass as they dug into the soft ground. "I'm saying, that your precious human that is standing right beside you is the one who shot you."

For a moment or two, Toothless stayed still and unmoving, his blank look refusing to budge from his face. Nightflight stuck her snout into the air, her tail curling tighter around herself. "Why should you spend your time with someone who had to trap you to get you to stay?" She asked stiffly. "Why wouldn't you leave while you can? You and I can go back home and then we can forget about all of this-"

"Nightflight." Toothless growled. "I already knew."

The she-dragon's eyes widened, "You- what!" She asked shrilly, her wings fluttering with surprise. "We- Well what are you still doing here then! Why would you ever trust somebody who did that to you! I know I wouldn't!"

Before she could say anything else, Toothless flattened himself to the ground, looking up at Hiccup with the odd lip-thing again as he wagged his tail. Hiccup returned the lip gesture, and Toothless lunged forward, taking the child's Viking helmet teasingly and hopping away. Hiccup laughed loudly, and he was about to follow, when he stopped, looking back at Nightflight and taking a few steps back to be beside her. "Come on!" He said, looking up at her, his head touching his back as he did so. "You can play too, right?"

Nightflight's only reply was to shove the poor thing over onto the ground with a thump.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: We're going to see the Muppets later, so I'm really excited about that. I heard it got good reviews. But I suppose by the time I upload this, I will have seen it already ^^

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you eat a lot? :3

I went back and fixed chapter two because I really didn't like the way I did the last part, and I realized the way I did it was wrong. So you can go back and read the revised part if you WANT, you don't really have to

So I think I should get started on this at least before I have to leave for Thanksgiving lunch. Why we are having it for lunch, I have no idea.

This chapter is when things get weird. O-o

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By the end of the day, Hiccup had not made any progress with Nightflight at all. It all ended up the same no matter what he did. Toothless handed the female Night Fury a large branch to try and draw with, and she turned and smashed Hiccup to the ground with it. Hiccup tried to get her to eat a fish from him, and she swung around to catch her own, her tail smacking Hiccup across the face in the process. No matter what the boy did, she wouldn't bend to him. He tried to follow everything he did with Toothless, but it just didn't work.

By the end of the day, Hiccup was beaten, bruised and tired. He leaned against the rock wall of the cave and watched numbly as the female Night Fury and Toothless barked back words to one another, their growls and snaps having been going on for the past hour and a half. Hiccup sighed and sank down to a sitting position, running a hand through his already-messed-up hair. The two dragons looked about ready to leap at one another's throat in an instant, something about that fact made Hiccup a little reluctant to leave them alone together.

Which was why the boy was still standing there while the first stars started to shine up in the sky. He knew in the back of his mind that his father would be cross with him when he got back, but he didn't really mind that right now. He cleared his throat, bracing himself as he pushed himself off of the ground and started over to the two quarrelling dragons. "…Toothless?" He asked cautiously, coming to a stop beside the dragon.

Toothless didn't even pay a mind to him, not even glancing at his human as he faced the female. The Night Fury let out a small, throaty growl, the she-dragon merely blinking in response. "Toothless." He said a little louder, blinking when Toothless still paid no mind to him. The two dragons had fallen silent now, the female staring intently at Toothless while Hiccup's dragon did the same thing back. The female seemed to be mumbling something to Toothless, but the Night Fury just held her gaze, almost as if he couldn't look away.

Neither of them blinked, and Hiccup grabbed his arm self-consciously, shifting uneasily. "Toothless!" He said, yelling this time. The dragon started, as if woken from a dream. Turning, Toothless blinked rapidly, shaking his head from side to side. Straightening, he gave Hiccup his signature toothless grin. The female growled sharply, glaring at Hiccup with fury in her eyes as she stamped one foot down on the ground. Ignoring the girl, he started to speak, reaching out and patting Toothless's snout. "I'm going to go back to Berk I guess. Are you sure you'll be alright here alone?"

Toothless purred loudly, leaning over and nuzzling against his human, nearly knocking him over as he did so. Hiccup let out a small laugh, "Alright, alright!" He laughed, shoving the over-affectionate dragon away. The female was watching with a bored expression, looking like she would rather be eating grass than be here. Pursing his lips, Hiccup was quiet for a moment before he smiled widely. "I know what you need to make this place feel like home!" He said triumphantly. "A name!"

If she could get even more irritated, it just happened. Her ears flattened to her head, and she let out a small grumble of anger, but Hiccup just tapped his chin, studying her carefully. "How about… Thalia? No…what about… Raven? Or maybe Rose?" He glanced over at Toothless, one eyebrow raised. "What do you think?"

Toothless blinked, then smiled.

"I like Thalia-" Hiccup was cut off as the female whirled around and stomped away, walking to the other side of the cove and flopping down on the ground with a loud huff. She drew her wings forward and covered her face from the two who were staring at her oddly. Hiccup's downcast eyes fell the ground, and he scuffed through the dirt with the toe of his boot. "Anyway…I should be getting back." He said quietly.

Toothless straightened, looking over at Hiccup as the boy turned his back on him. "I don't know what to do when my dad asks me what kind of progress I made today. I guess I'll just improvise." He paused, turning back and wrapping his arms around the Night Fury's neck in a hug. "Good night, Buddy. I'll come straight here in the morning, alright?" Toothless purred loudly, watching as Hiccup turned and started back up the rocks, turning the corner and disappearing from the dragon's view.

Sitting still for a moment or two, Toothless closed his eyes and relished in the quiet sound of night. Although it was a bitterly cold winter, the silence of night still remained. Although Toothless would have liked to hear the soft sounds of crickets like there was when the nights were a lot warmer, but quiet was good too. For a moment, he had forgotten that Nightflight was still there, but his eyes snapped open and he turned around as he heard the she-dragon's voice, high and mocking. "'How about Thalia?'" She said in a high voice, a scowl on her face. "Thalia is the most STUPIDEST name. Next to Toothless."

Ignoring that last part, Toothless rolled his eyes and stood, walking through the thick snow towards her. "You know, you don't have to be so nasty to him." He said fairly, settling down to sit next to her. Nightflight eyed him wryly, pushing herself up to a sitting position also. "Says the dragon that can't fly now because of him." She said, sounding just as fair.

Toothless snorted, looking down at his tail as he wrapped it tighter around himself. "I told you before, I don't care what happened." He remarked. "None of it matters, he helped me get back up into the sky, so he made up for it. And I suppose if I would have been more quicker…he wouldn't have lost his leg." He paused for a moment as he stared at the ground. "We're even."

"I wouldn't say that." Nightflight groaned. "I mean- he can still walk without help. You can't fly around without having him on your back. I'd think that would get pretty tiring, right? I thought you were above that." She turned her memorizing gaze on Toothless. "I think you would be much better off without him."

For a moment, Toothless couldn't move under her stare, he could only look back at her blankly. But then he shook himself, gathering back his scrambled thoughts as he looked away. "I wouldn't be able to live without him. He's a part of me. You just can't understand that, and I feel sorry for you. The fact that you can't go five minutes without even glaring at him makes me sick. You shouldn't treat him so badly, he's trying to get you to stay here with him."

Nightflight didn't seem offended, in fact she looked a little amused. "I could care less about the twig." She sighed breezily. "Because unlike you, I can fly away from this place on a whim because the child that you are so fond of did NOT shoot me out of the sky like I was a bird being hunted. He didn't look too happy being shot at in the sky, he is merely a hypocrite."

"The why don't you fly away?" Toothless snapped. "If you hate Hiccup and humans so much, just leave. We'd be better off without you."

"I'm still here in this wretched place because I am waiting for you." She said affirmatively. Leaning forward, she raised her eyes to meet his once more. "Toothless, what happened to the Night Fury I used to know? Don't you remember all the fun we had together? Like the time we put thorns in our mother's nest? And now you're telling me to leave? So did all of those days when we were young slip your mind?"

Toothless didn't answer as he stared back at her. He was tongue-tied for words, and her odd stare made him feel as though he were falling through air, his thoughts slipping away from him. Nightflight tilted her head to the side, as if confused. "And remember the time that we watched from up above as one of those blasted Viking ships got lost while looking for the dragon nest? And when we first got the hang of flying? And we made the plan to fly away from home and go on an adventure? We didn't even get three minutes away from our home before you started getting homesick. Why aren't you homesick now?

"Night Furies aren't supposed to act like this. They aren't supposed to nuzzle up to humans and need their help to fly. They aren't supposed to do any of the things you're doing, sharing food with them, drawing with them, walking with them. Sure, maybe other dragons like Gronckles or Zipplebacks. But Night Furies are the strongest species of dragons in the world, we are higher than them all, and are supposed to be feared by the insolent Vikings! You have lost what you had been taught back home, and I'm sure that if your family saw you now, they would not recognize you. Or not want to. It was something close to a miracle that I realized it was you, and I thought you were being attacked!"

She hadn't looked away from Toothless, and she noted with satisfaction that he looked somewhat transfixed by her. She had never tried to do this, most Night Furies never did, but her mother had told her that it might come in handy some day. And hopefully today would be the day that it turned up to be true. "You don't need him, Toothless." She paused for a moment, letting the words sink in. "You only need ME. Me and the other Night Furies."

Toothless opened his mouth to speak, and Nightflight hurriedly spoke, eyes widening somewhat as she spoke quickly. "I know you can't fly on your own, Toothless, but leave this island with me. Please." Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute, and she finally pinned one down long enough to think. "We can walk across the ocean! It's frozen over, and I think that we might make it home if we leave before it cracks!"

Finally, to Nightflight's disappointment, Toothless shook himself visibly, blinking once or twice as he looked at her oddly. "Nightflight…No." He said, his words slightly blurred. It was clear in his eyes that he was confused, and Nightflight drew back, deciding that it would have to be enough for now. "I wont go with you." Toothless said more firmly.

She didn't say anything for a while, looking up into the sky thoughtfully. "Alright." She said finally, turning to Toothless with a flash in her eye. "So you don't want to leave with me. You want to stay here with these monsters. Well - I'll stay too for a while. I'm not really in a hurry." She threw him a look. "I'll just be right back." She stood up and crouched down to the ground slowly.

Toothless blinked, starting as he looked down at her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going out for a short little flight." She said, shooting him a look. "I would ask if you wanted to come, but you can't. I feel bad, really. We are named Night Furies after all; we blend in with the night. It's the best time to fly, but I guess you can only fly when the boy is awake. I'll be right back, I fly so fast that it wont take any time at all." With that, she spread her wings out and shot off the ground, the cold winter wind shooting into her face as she soared into the air gracefully.

Toothless blinked, watching quietly as she became a small dot in the sky. She twirled and spun around in the black night sky, the only thing giving trace of her was the stars that hung overhead. She was outlined in the sky, no matter how fast she went. Despite himself, Toothless looked down at his tail with a flicker of sadness, the red half seeming a little too bright to him. But he shook his head quickly, snorting as he looked away. He never thought like this, he was happy here. He knew that he couldn't go home, he had been perfectly happy with Hiccup next to him instead of another Night Fury.

So why was he suddenly thinking differently?

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A/N: We're leaving to see the Muppets soon, so I had to cut this a little short.

I believe that this is another connection to the book, what Nightflight is doing. I'm not sure whether or not I'll tell you or just let you figure it out by yourself. I still have to figure this all out! ^^

I want to thank all of the people who favorite this story! I would love to hear feedback from you all! More reviews make me more and more eager to update the story, so you might want to keep that in mind ;3

We need to make that number in the top right corner go up ;^;

So that the Easy Bake ovens will work~

Please. Think of the Easy Bake ovens! D:


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Muppets was awesome! My sister didn't like it though, so I told her that she didn't have a sense of humor. Her response? "I got the jokes, I just didn't think they were funny!" XDD My life in a nutshell.

Thanks for all of the reviews! I really appreciate getting so many, and it makes me feel really good to get feedback from you all ^^

Anyway, I will try to make my chapters longer, so I'll work on that~

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Hiccup woke up early the next morning just like he had promised Toothless, out the door and making his way through the forest before anybody else stirred, his breath coming out in clouds from the bitterly-cold weather. Reaching around himself, he drew his vest tighter around himself, shivering as he tried to see through the darkness of morning. His thoughts were still fuzzy, and his eyes were slowly drooping the farther along he went. But the images of Toothless and the female fighting yesterday kept him trudging through the fresh snow that had come last night. Thankfully there was a thick layer of ice on top, keeping the boy from slipping down knee-deep into the banks. But it also didn't help his balance. His prosthetic leg was always a hassle in the winter, making ice and rocks a potential danger to him. What was even worse was ice AND rocks in the same place, which of course this forest had.

The ice also didn't help the cold that was around him. Hiccup couldn't feel his hands or his nose, he was pretty sure that he could very well get hypothermia by just walking around. He envied Toothless, who never got cold. The dragon was always warm, and he usually slept beside Hiccup, the warmth that radiated off of him taking off the edge of the cold. Now that he didn't have that, Hiccup was frozen even when he woke up in his room.

Rubbing his hands together to try and warm them up, Hiccup raised his eyes up to the sky. Along the skyline of the island, a milky-pink light was starting to make itself visible as the sun rose. Before long, the people of Berk would get up and start their daily routine just as they did yesterday. If the female Night Fury had not shown up, Hiccup would have been being woken up by an eager Toothless by now, ready to go flying. He probably wouldn't get around to flying with Toothless today.

As he skirted around a bare tree, Hiccup spotted the place up ahead where he had first found Toothless. He was getting close to the cove, and when he got there, he made a mental note to get warmed up by Toothless. The Night Fury would be anxious to see him, he must have had a long night with the she-dragon. They didn't seem to be on such good terms, which was sort of odd to Hiccup. Usually dragons of the same breed got along well with one another; apparently that wasn't the case with the two of them.

Hiccup huffed out a huff of air as he thought back to yesterday, his bangs fluttering up as he did so. He made no progress with the female, she didn't even let him name her. All she did was take things and hit him with it, something that was both painful and irritating. Toothless wasn't near this hard to train, Hiccup didn't see what was so different with her. In fact, if Toothless wasn't there to help him out, she would have probably killed him by now. He shuddered at the thought, this time not from the cold.

Maybe it was because him and Toothless had made something of a bond the first time they met. Hiccup cut him free, and Toothless let him go in turn. It was something that Hiccup had never even thought of truly happening, and it made him curious to find out more. Things led to another, and soon everything was going by in a rush. It wasn't pure chance that Hiccup had found Toothless, it was something more. Some skeptics might point out that it might not have been chance that he met the female either. Rubbing the large bruise on his back, Hiccup deadpanned. Yeah, it was chance, he was pretty sure of that.

His thoughts stopped as he looked up, a smile spreading over his face as he saw the cove. Quickening his pace slightly, Hiccup peered into the clearing to see Toothless and the female already awake. The two Night Furies were sitting together, Hiccup blinking with surprise as he saw that they were acting as if they were friends. Toothless had the same lopsided grin on his face as he looked at her, and the female made the noise that Hiccup could only suppose was a laugh for dragons.

Biting his lip and knowing that Hiccup would break the female's good mood, he started down the rocks carefully. His prosthetic leg made it harder than it was made out to be, and he tried to get a better grip on the rock's slippery edge. He glanced over at Toothless to see whether or not the dragon had caught sight of him yet. But the Night Fury had his back to him, not even realizing that he had come by yet. Sucking in a deep breath, Hiccup let himself slide down the rest of the way, the coating of ice on the surface making him shoot down to the ground faster than he intended, flipping over and landing face-first into a large snow bank.

Spluttering, Hiccup pushed himself back up, face stinging from the snow that clung to his face. Reaching up, he wiped his arm over his face roughly, wincing. From up ahead, Toothless finally seemed to notice that they weren't alone anymore, the Night Fury stiffening as he turned around. He blinked down at Hiccup quizzically, but didn't make a move to go and help him up. The teen shook himself mentally and stood back up again, giving Toothless a smile. "Hey, bud!" He greeted, marching his way over to the dragon.

Toothless blinked once more at the boy, watching as he came to a stop beside him. Hiccup blinked, forehead wrinkling as he tilted his head to the side. "Is anything wrong, Toothless?" He asked. "You aren't…" He cut himself off before he could say it and just shook his head, recovering as he smiled again. "It was really cold on the way here, you should be glad that you don't have to go through it!"

The female wasn't doing anything actually, wasn't even glaring at him like she spent all day doing yesterday. Her eyes were blank, and she merely looked at Hiccup steadily as he looked at her. The boy's heart skipped a beat, and he wondered if he would actually get somewhere today. Hopefully he would, his father hadn't been too pleased when he had heard of Hiccup's day, spent taking hits from the indifferent dragon. He might have a better story to tell tonight when he got home.

"I have an idea!" Hiccup said, flashing a smile over to Toothless. The Night Fury stared back, but did not return the smile. Blinking, Hiccup was caught off-guard for a moment as he stared at Toothless with something of confused hurt. But he knew that his next words would perk the dragon up a bit. He must just be put out because he had been outside all night instead of what he was used to. "We should go flying!" Hiccup declared happily.

The female seemed to be interested, her ears perked instantly, and she looked over at Toothless. She growled out something to the dragon, waving her tail back and forth as she did so. Toothless blinked, looking down at Hiccup blankly. The teen shuffled his weight back and forth, giving him yet another confused smile. "Come on, buddy!" He said encouragingly. "Let's show her what we got, alright?"

Almost as if he had said the right words, Toothless started, throwing the female a teasing look. His eyes rounded with the humor that Hiccup had grown to be familiar with, and the Night Fury rubbed his head against Hiccup's chest, crouching down to the ground with excitement shining in his green orbs. Giving a small laugh, Hiccup hoisted himself onto the dragon's back, strapping himself in and pushing his metal leg into its hold.

He looked over at the female, and noted with satisfaction that she was already positioned to take off, her wings spread out for the wind to take as she looked over at Toothless. It was almost like she was waiting to be signaled, and Hiccup tightened his hold on Toothless's saddle as he called out. "Let's go!" He cheered, Toothless immediately pushing off of the ground as he heard his human's voice.

The female was not short of the race, she was neck-and-neck with Toothless as both dragons shot up into the air. The freezing winter air shot through Hiccup, and he let out a loud whoop as Toothless started to catch wind of the competitive air, leaning forward and spiraling downwards. The female snorted, following the Night Fury and going down in a graceful arc, not skipping a beat as she threw a look over at Toothless.

Narrowing her eyes against the wind that was driving against her, Nightflight shouted over the noise. "I bet I can go faster than you!" She roared, feeling somewhat free for the first time since she had come here. Toothless narrowed his eyes at her, replying his own way as he put on a burst of speed, pulling ahead of Nightflight easily. The female snickered to herself before she followed suit.

She was fast. Toothless had thought that she was fast last night, but now she was at least ten times that speed. She flashed by Toothless before the dragon could even blink, and she did it all while performing tricks. She spun in the air and flew upside-down. She took a sharp turn down and sank underwater, jumping out of it like a dolphin and then diving back under. It was amazing, and Toothless couldn't hold back a flash of admiration for the headstrong she-dragon. But he was fast too, and he could show that now that he could fly.

"Whoa!" Hiccup yelled with surprise as Toothless jerked forward, chasing after the female. The dragon's wings started to go a mile and minute, and Hiccup had to hold on tight to the dragon as they shot forward. The female glanced over her shoulder mockingly at Toothless, suddenly veering off to the right, leaving the Night Fury to falter slightly. He let out a low growl, pushing himself up and shooting off after her.

Hiccup was trying to keep up with Toothless, but the dragon was acting like he had completely forgotten that Hiccup was on his back. Usually the flight was smooth, and Hiccup found it more than easy to click his foot back and forth. But the ride had turned rough, Hiccup was bouncing up and down without meaning to, his vision going shaky as he shook this way and that way.

The Night Fury had caught up to Nightflight. "Ha!" He shouted, a thrill of exhilaration going through him as Nightflight met his gaze. "I can beat you easy! You think you're so great? I can be just as fast!"

Nightflight blinked, calling back a reply to her friend. "That's more than your 'rider' can say!" She said, putting emphasis on the word. Toothless blinked, risking a glance back at the frazzled-looking Hiccup that was wildly trying to cling to his back without falling. "Are you sure you can keep this up for long? Before the twig falls, I mean? It doesn't sound as much fun as I thought, to watch you both splat onto the frozen ocean!" She looked down below at the icy surface of the sea. "Well, try it!"

Toothless blinked with surprise as she swooped over to the side, and his eyes widened as he saw what was in front of him. A large rock was coming straight towards them, and the Night Fury let out a loud roar as Hiccup finally saw what was going on.

The teen let out a loud yell, but it came too late before both of them smacked right into the rock face. Toothless let out a low growl as he pushed himself back off, coming to a halt as he shook his head from side-to-side. Hiccup seemed to be relieved by the stand-still, letting out a small sigh as he leaned forward. "Sorry." He said breathlessly. "I couldn't focus, you kind of got everywhere."

Toothless growled louder this time, making it pointed to the human. He couldn't believe that Hiccup was trying to blame this on him. The human was supposed to be steering him, he was supposed to fly. That was how it worked, if Hiccup couldn't handle him going that fast, that made it his fault. The Night Fury turned and glared at Hiccup sharply, getting his point across to the boy.

Hiccup blinked, Toothless watching coldly as the boy crumpled somewhat, a hurt look on his face as he looked down at the saddle. Before Toothless could try and do anything else, Nightflight came swooping back, a smug look on her face. "I suppose I won, then!" She crowed, looking at Toothless with a glint in her eye. "Perhaps you would have won if it wasn't for that screw-up!"

Toothless groaned, rolling his eyes.

Nightflight sighed breezily. "Well then, we should probably go back. Something else could happen, and you might run into something that could do more harm than a bump. It's a shame, we could have stayed up here a lot longer, too. But I suppose Hiccup must be getting cold too. We don't know the feeling, I'd imagine it to be very uncomfortable. If only Hiccup couldn't get cold. Or better yet, he didn't even have to be here. We could have finally found out who was faster. Oh well." She paused, looking back into Toothless's eyes with the weird stare that made him loose his thoughts for a moment or two. He was stuck staring at her like an idiot until she broke her gaze finally. "I guess Hiccup has to be taken care of like a child." And with that she went.

Toothless watched as she angled herself back down, heading back in the direction of the cove. The Night Fury stayed up in the air, the sound of his wings beating through the air the only thing that was audible. Hiccup blinked, chewing the bottom of his lip as he looked at Toothless nervously.

Something was wrong, he knew that Toothless was mad at him, which was something the Night Fury never did. Toothless was usually patient with him, he usually only smiled at Hiccup when he made a mistake like this. Something about the dragon was different, and the teen took a deep breath before leaning forward. "Toothless?" He tried, the dragon not even responding to his words. "I'm really sorry. I just wasn't trying hard enough, all right? It was my fault, I admit that. I'm sorry if you're mad at me. I don't want you to be mad at me, you're my best friend."

Toothless gave a huff, leaning down and following after Nightflight. Hiccup started, clicking into the right position for Toothless this time. The teen blinked, looking as though he wanted to say something else to Toothless, but stopped short, snapping his mouth closed. The Night Fury's sudden anger at him would pass, surely it wouldn't stay for long. …Hopefully it wouldn't stay for long. The anger was sudden, it didn't normally happen like that. Hiccup didn't like it.

Finally Toothless landed neatly on the ground, giving a small shake of his head as Hiccup unlatched himself and slid off of the dragon's back. He stretched for a moment or two, giving a small yawn. "I forgot to grab breakfast when I was leaving, you think we should-" He broke off as he snapped his mouth closed.

Toothless and the female Night Fury were already off by the small river already, hunched over the water and looking down intently for fish. Hiccup blinked, hands slapping down to his sides as he straightened, "Oh…do you need help?" He asked, starting over to the two. "I think I can help you get the-"

The female Night Fury threw him a look over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes and giving a sharp growl to the teen. Hiccup immediately stopping in his tracks, blinking rapidly as he took a small step back. The female continued to glare at him, her sharp eyes seeming to bore a hole into Hiccup. The boy's mouth hung open uselessly, he didn't know what to say or do under her probing look.

"Toothless?" Hiccup prompted. "If you don't want to work for it, I can run back home and get us something." The female turned back and growled a few words under her breath, Toothless let out a rumbling reply. Hiccup took a deep breath and tried again. "Toothless, what's wrong with you? You aren't usually like this!" He paused for a moment before adding. "You're acting weird, and I don't know why. I wish you would show me."

Toothless didn't even turn back to look at him. The female turned her head back to stare at Hiccup. The two held each other's gaze in silence for a moment, one pair of eyes full of confusion and hurt, and the other blank, not showing any kind of emotion whatsoever. The Viking was just about to try one more time before the female moved, bringing her tail up and curling it around Toothless's. She blinked slowly at Hiccup, and the boy's eyes slowly widened as she glared at him.

The female gave a loud snap at the boy, like he was a mere burr that was sticking to her. An annoying piece of trash that wouldn't leave. Hiccup blinked, looking back at Toothless to see the dragon lunge forward, hooking a fish in his claws and bringing it back up to the bank. He wasn't even paying attention to what was going on.

Not seeing anything else he could do, Hiccup hung his head and looked down at the snow. He was confused angry, and hurt, and had absolutely no idea what was going on. The female seemed to be doing something to Toothless, barking words that weren't intelligible to Hiccup. If it was in that case of the female telling Toothless things, why was Toothless listening? Didn't he know better than that?

Hiccup noticed with a start that his eyes were burning. Quickly, he ducked his head, giving a small mumble. "Toothless, I'm going back home to get something. Do you want me to come back?" He raised his head to glance over at his dragon, and his heart skipped a beat as the Night Fury finally turned back to look at him.

And he gave the teen a small shake of his head.

Inhaling a sharp breath, Hiccup spun around and headed back up the rocks. He was slipping more this time, mostly because of his rapidly-blurring vision. The female watched him coldly as he made slow progress up the rocks, slow progress up from the cove. She shrugged and looked back at Toothless, leaning over and touching his ear with her snout affectionately. "We don't need him anyways, right?" She asked.

When Toothless hesitated, she pulled back and looked at him fully, her gaze locking with his. "Right?" She prompted, trying out the lip gesture from before as both edges of her lips turned upright. As soon as her gaze locked with Toothless's, Toothless's worries and doubts vanished. "Right." He agreed instantly, almost forgetting what they were talking about.

As soon as Hiccup rounded the corner, he sank down to the ground with a small thump, leaning over and putting his head down on his knees. He looked down at the snowy ground emptily, a stray tear running down his cheek and falling onto the ice. He shook himself, feeling himself to be stupid. It was one time.

One time of something that had never happened before. Toothless was always glad of his company, they spent every moment together usually. They had a bond that no other trainer had with his or her dragon, they had been through so much together that they were considered the best pair on the island. It was something that the village expected. Where Hiccup was, Toothless was there. Where Toothless was, Hiccup could be found nearby.

But Toothless just told him off. He glared at him. He snapped at him. He ignored him.

What had happened? What was happening?

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A/N: TOOK FOREVER! GAWD.

I hope you like all the…angst in here. I liked it a lot ^^

I went to the Fox today, and that was pretty fun. I liked it.

I hope you will review as much as you did last chapter! The Easy Bake ovens are starting to work again! I'm so happy! Now I can continue making my pot-roast! Yes. It is possible to make a pot roast in an Easy Bake oven.

The more you review, the stronger the Easy Bake ovens get! The more words you type in that big old fabulous box, the more chapters I might get out! :D

*snuggles with Hiccup* You are all so jealous.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Dear Austin Matsuki: You got it right! Nobody else really guessed what Nightflight was doing! I loved your review, it made me laugh! I agree with the bottom part though. There was this book that I used to have as a kid that told me how to make friends that I was reading a few days ago (it was stupid) and I just said: "Or you could just loose your leg." But I don't think toddlers need friends THAT much. Some of them.

ANYWAY. I think the pot roast is coming along nicely :3 I knew you all would like that last chapter, so here's another one! Fresh out of the Easy Bake oven!

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The Great Hall was warm, a nice shelter for those who were coming in for lunch. Vikings filed through the door, making for a table and hoping for something hot to eat. Noses bright red from the cold, the men and woman of the village greeted one another with hearty laughs and waves. Soon, a loud roar started in the hall as more and more people started to talk, some people having to yell to be heard over the noise. It was just like every other day.

Astrid walked beside Ruffnut, the two holding a conversation together about their dragons. Ruffnut was bragging about her Zippleback, and Astrid was listening with half an ear. "Today he was trying to set fire to my brother's bed. If it wasn't for the whole other-head-gas thing, it would have worked. But I guess it's the thought that counts, no matter how funny it would have been if it worked."

The blonde gave a half-smile to her friend. "I guess so. I'm trying to stop Stormfly from doing that though. I'm trying to get her to help around the house with it, like starting the fire and help boiling the water for cooking or something like that. I think she would be good at doing stuff like that, right?"

Ruffnut shrugged. "I guess." She said. "I'll see you later Astrid, okay?" Astrid blinked, giving her a smile in turn. She watched as Ruffnut turned and vanished into the crowd of Vikings, leaving her alone. Giving a small sigh, Astrid turned and started to weave through the crowd. In her hand she held a small bag that contained her lunch that her mother had given her. All she had to do was sit down and then-

She stopped in her tracks, straightening. Her forehead wrinkled as she looked oddly at the direction she had seen it. It had to be her imagination, right? But she started forward anyway, squeezing past the adults as she quickened her pace. She got closer and closer, and she realized that it wasn't her mind playing tricks on her. She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around. "Hiccup?" She asked.

The Viking started as he was touched, blinking rapidly as he came face-to-face with Astrid. The blonde looked at him carefully, something was wrong. "What's going on?" She asked. "Why are you here? I thought that you were going to spend all day with Toothless and the new Night Fury. Did something happen?"

Hiccup was silent for a moment or two, looking as though he would have like to say something. But then he put on a weak smile for her. "No, I just thought I'd come here and get some lunch before…going back." He said, pausing before he added the last two words. Astrid cocked an eyebrow at him, looking skeptic. But she didn't pry, she just grabbed the boy's hand and led him to an empty table, taking a seat.

"So how is it going with them?" Astrid asked, glancing over at her friend as she took out her lunch. There was a sandwich wrapped up nicely with her, along with some blueberries and a few rolls of bread. She looked expectantly at Hiccup, taking a small bite of her sandwich before adding. "Toothless and her looked about ready to kill each other when I first saw them, is Toothless still alive?" She meant it to be a joke, but she saw something flash in Hiccup's eyes and started as she prayed that it didn't actually happen.

"She's better, I guess." Hiccup said, his words coming out slightly quieter than usual. "Her and Toothless are getting along really good. But she still doesn't like me." He studied the table blankly for a while, and Astrid put her lunch down as she realized that something was really bothering him. But before she could ask, he started to talk again. "We went out flying today with her, and she landed back on the island without complaining. So I think I made progress with that at least."

"That's good." Astrid said brightly, giving him a smile. "So where's your lunch? Didn't you say you came back to eat? Do you need food? Cause my mom packed blueberries, and I don't really like those. You can have some if you want." Blueberries were her favorite, but she wasn't about to tell Hiccup that. She pushed the small bowl of berries closer to Hiccup, "Here you go."

Hiccup looked at the bowl and put his chin down on the table. "I'm not hungry." He mumbled. "I thought I would have been when I came here, but I lost my appetite." Eyes flickering over to Astrid he added an apology quickly. "Sorry."

"S'fine." She muttered back, her thoughtful gaze turning a little probing by now. "Hiccup, will you tell me what's the matter?" She finally blurted out. Hiccup looked over at her without moving his head. "I mean- I don't want to bring up something you don't want to talk about, but I know you better than you might think I do. Something is wrong, and I don't like seeing you like this. Are you going to tell me?"

Hiccup gave a small sigh, almost like he was giving up. Astrid could literally see his shield falling as he sat back up. His eyes went wide with sadness, and his shoulders slumped visibly as he looked at her. "Toothless is mad at me for some reason, and I don't know why." He confessed. "When we went flying today, I made a mistake and he started to glare at me. He's spending more time with the female than me, and when I asked him if I should come back, he shook his head at me. He snapped at me, and he never does that. The female keeps saying stuff to him that I don't know, and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with me."

Astrid blinked, having not expected that. "How do you know that Toothless will be mad at you for long?" She offered, her mind drawing a blank for once. Hiccup hung his head, his hands going up as he dug his fingernails into his skull.

"I don't!" He said, his voice raising. Astrid blinked, drawing back a little bit as he shouted. "I don't know what's going on with Toothless, and I wish I did! He never does stuff like this, and I might just be making a big deal out of nothing, but I just don't want to loose him again." He looked away from her quickly. "It was bad enough when he left for three days, I wouldn't be able to handle it if he left forever. It would be even worse knowing that he hates me."

"I'm sure he doesn't HATE you." Astrid said, wincing slightly as she tried to search for what to say. Silence fell over the two, and the blonde ducked her head self-consciously, swinging her legs back and forth underneath the table. Hiccup looked at the table fixedly, looking bleak and glum as he didn't even blink.

"I got it." Astrid said finally, breaking the silence. Hiccup started at the sound of her voice, and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "We can go down there together then." She didn't see how this could help, but Astrid was fresh out of ideas. It was usually Hiccup who could come up with a plan in a millisecond. "I'll go with you, and then we can go through this together."

Hiccup blinked slowly, but a faint smile was tugging at the edges of his mouth as Astrid pushed her chair back from the table and stood up. Pushing the rest of her lunch back into the bag, she smiled. "But I'm going to eat on the way, I'm hungry." Turning, she reached out her hand to her friend, giving him a soft grin. "Let's go."

Taking her hand, Hiccup stood up beside her, still not letting go as the two made way for the door that led outside. "Thanks, Astrid." He said fervently. "You always seem to know what to do."

"Nah. I'm just really good at hiding the fact that I wing it." Astrid giggled, turning and taking out her sandwich once more. "Did anything happen other than what you already told me?" She asked, taking another bite. "I mean, he didn't try and do anything to you, right?"

"No." Hiccup sighed, walking unevenly on the icy path. The village slowly disappeared behind them, just like it did when Hiccup first led Toothless and the female to the cove. "When we were flying with the female, he sort of forgot I was on his back, I think. The ride was a lot rough than I was used to, and I didn't see one of the rock pillars in front of us before it was too late. He got mad at me after we ran into the rock, I think him and the female were having a race, and I ruined it for him. The female came back and said something to him, and he glared back at me. I would kill to know what Toothless was thinking or saying. I have no idea what's going on with them two."

Astrid hummed an agreement, eyes narrowing as she looked into the snowy forest. "It is a little odd." She said thoughtfully. "You think that the female would be just as easy at Toothless was to gain trust with. But she hates you, and she just wont budge. Maybe she needs a woman's touch, right?" She looked over at Hiccup with a smile, but the boy just looked ahead with a small frown.

"He's going to be mad that I came back." He murmured, almost to himself.

Astrid blinked, not knowing what to say as she looked back ahead. She used the silence to finish off her sandwich and berries, not offering any to Hiccup this time. The boy seemed to be concentrating too hard on walking without falling, edging slowly along the ice like he was sliding. It made them go twice as slow, but Astrid only felt a little sorry for Hiccup. She wasn't complaining about the ice, she was too busy wondering whether or not the leg was hurting him. She saw him wince once or twice.

"Here - lean on me." Astrid offered, reaching over and taking his hand as she pulled him closer to herself. For a moment, Hiccup looked as though he was going to object, face reddening slightly. But then he finally gave up and leaned on the girl, giving her a grateful smile.

When they got to the cove, Astrid instantly saw Toothless and the female. They had a large pile of fish in front of them, and it looked like they were just tucking into their lunch. Taking a deep breath, Astrid turned back to Hiccup. "Do you need help getting down the rocks?" She asked. Hiccup responded with a shake of his head, and Astrid went on ahead as she jumped down the few boulders. The snow quieted her jumps, and neither of the two dragons noticed her yet.

She looked up and watched Hiccup anxiously. The boy seemed to be sure of himself, but it wasn't like he had a good reputation with gracefulness. Hiccup sat on top of the rocks and slowly slid down, using his good foot to make sure that he didn't fall over or slid too fast. Before long, he joined Astrid by her side, having made just as much noise as she did. Flashing him a quick smile, she turned and started for the dragons, almost sensing the reluctance that Hiccup was feeling.

"Hey, Toothless!" She called happily, breaking into a jog as the dragon lifted his head. Turning, the Night Fury blinked slowly as he saw her, one ear twitching as she came to a stop in front of him. She got on her toes, wrapping her arms around Toothless's neck and giving him a large hug. "You're so warm! It was freezing coming all the way here!"

Astrid broke away from Toothless as she heard something to her left. Her blue eyes were piercing as she saw the female was snapping to the dragon that was beside her. Toothless growled a reply, and Astrid finally saw what Hiccup was talking about. Speaking of the boy, he stood a ways away, one arm gripping the other as he spoke up. "Hey, Toothless." He greeted, hands slapping down to his sides as Toothless looked over at him. "Long time no see, right?" He joked.

Toothless's ears flattened to his head, and the female rolled her eyes. Before Astrid could debate whether or not this was such a good thing to do, she glared sharply at the female, shaking her head slowly. The female started as she looked back at her, baring her teeth as she growled at the small human. Astrid's hands clenched into fists at her sides, and she took a step closer to the dragon. "What do you think you're doing?" She snapped. "Stop it."

The female rolled her eyes once more, looking as though she would have liked to smack Astrid upside the head. The Viking mentally made a note that she had left her axe back at her house, but the female just ignored her, leaning over and gobbling up a fish in her mouth. Taking a step back to Hiccup, Astrid nudged him encouragingly, nodding over to Toothless.

Blowing out his cheeks, Hiccup stepped forward to stand in front of Toothless, leaning over and trying to catch the dragon's eyes. "Hey…bud?" He prompted. Toothless leaned over and started to eat the pile of fish also, Hiccup had no idea whether or not he was listening. Shooting a look at Astrid, he tried again. "I really don't want you to be mad at me, you're my best friend, you know that?"

Toothless didn't even glance at him. "I mean- I really wish I knew why you suddenly got so mad at me." Hiccup went on awkwardly. "Is it because of what happened this morning while we were flying? It was an honest mistake, and I admit that it was my fault, okay? Is that what you were waiting for? Tell you what, we can go flying again! To make up for it. …Okay?"

Toothless stilled refused to look at him.

Biting his lower lip, Hiccup tried one last time. "Toothless, I don't know how to handle you being so mad at me. Can we just pretend that none of this happened? Please, Toothless, I wont know what to do without you." Toothless faltered in his eating for a brief second, and hope went through Hiccup. "Toothless, you're everything that I am. If I don't have you…I'm nothing. Please don't leave me in the dark like this."

The Night Fury straightened, looking up at Hiccup with large green eyes. Reaching up hesitantly, Hiccup held out his hand to Toothless, shaking slightly as the Night Fury's eyes slightly narrowed. But before Toothless could do anything, the female let out a loud roar, both Hiccup and Astrid jumping out of their skins at the sudden volume.

The female jumped forward at Hiccup, eyes blazing with fury. The teen let out a startled yell, stumbling backwards as the female crashed into him. Slamming onto the ground, Hiccup's breath was shot out of him, leaving him gagging as the female dug her claws into him, ripping holes in his clothes easily. He tried to wriggle out of her grip, only making the pain of her claws worse as he gasped. Her claws weren't fully out, but they were out enough to make small pinpricks of blood seep through his clothes.

Astrid let out a scream, looking around wildly and picking up the nearest rock and throwing it as hard as she could at the Night Fury's head. The female immediately spun around, ripping her claws out of Hiccup's skin as the teen hissed with pain. Astrid's eyes were wide as she backed away quickly, staggering. Toothless had stood up, whirling back and forth as if confused on what to do.

Pushing himself up to his feet, Hiccup pushed away his stinging cuts as he saw Astrid. The blonde held another rock as the female slowly stalked over to her, teeth bared dangerously. Following Astrid's movements, Hiccup picked up a rock and chucked it straight at the female, making her spin around. "Get out of Berk!" He yelled angrily. "You aren't welcome here anymore!"

The female hissed at Hiccup loudly, absolute hatred shining in her eyes as she looked at him. Hiccup swallowed nervously, leaning over quickly and picking up another rock to shield himself with. The female gave an ear-splitting screech at Hiccup, the boy immediately covering his ears as he grimaced, shutting his eyes tightly.

Nightflight spun around to Toothless, the Night Fury looking at the bleeding Hiccup with something close to concern. "You see what they do!" She roared, catching the Night Fury's attention instantly as Toothless looked over at her. The male's eyes locked with her's, and she went on. "They invite you to their island and then they start attacking you! If you aren't the cushiony little pet they want, they kick you out! They don't allow you to act like a true dragon! Otherwise they try to kill you! Is this really the place that you want to live in?"

Toothless let his gaze slide over to the two Vikings. Astrid was beside Hiccup by now, looking at him with wild concern as Hiccup closed his eyes in pain. Something in the back of his mind willed him to dash over to his human and try and comfort him. But the Night Fury pushed away the voice roughly. The animal that Nightflight had brought back to life inside him overpowered the small voice, and his claws slid out, digging into the ground. Nightflight watched with something of approval in her eyes.

Hiccup's eyes widened as Toothless took a few steps forward. A small smile wormed its way on his lips as he waited eagerly for the dragon to do something. Anything. If only to show that he still knew that Hiccup was there. But his smile faded as he saw that Toothless's eyes were narrowed into furious slits as he stalked forward. Astrid tightened her grip on his hand, and Hiccup fidgeted uncomfortably.

Toothless came to a stop in front of Hiccup, narrowed eyes clashing with Hiccup's own. For a long time, each were silent, holding one another's gazes. Hiccup's heart ached as images of him and Toothless flashed through his mind, and he fought the urge to break down and run over to Toothless. He couldn't take this. Not rejection. Not from Toothless. Not from his best friend.

Toothless opened his mouth and let out a loud roar of anger, nearly making Hiccup fall over backwards. The dragon's back was arched, and his wings splayed out as he screeched out hatred. Hiccup's eyes widened and he could feel his stomach dropping ten stories as he stared incredulously at his dragon. The female had a dark look in her eyes, approving as she looked at Toothless warmly.

The Night Fury snapped his mouth closed, straightening as he glared at Hiccup hotly. The Viking's knees shook where he stood, and Astrid had fallen silent where she stood. The message was clear enough in the roar, but he just couldn't believe it. In his mind, the words that went unspoken rang in the boy's head. "Get OUT of here. You aren't welcome here anymore."

"Come on, Hiccup." Astrid whispered in the newfound silence. "Let's go."

Hiccup couldn't even moved if he tried, his wide eyes stuck unblinkingly at his dragon. "It's not…" His voice wouldn't work accordingly. "Please…Toothless…" Astrid took a deep breath and tugged on Hiccup's hand, leading him back out of the cove. Hiccup was walking backwards as he refused to turn, but Astrid was making sure that he didn't trip. "Toothless, wait." Hiccup rasped.

The Night Fury looked at him coldly, his eyes darker than normal as he glared at Hiccup. The Viking could do nothing else but stare at the dragon, not even feeling his cuts anymore. He couldn't feel anything anymore. It was like the world suddenly dimmed to black-and-white, sounds muffled as if he was underwater.

All he could see was Toothless. And the hate that shown clearly in his eyes.

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A/N: Nightflight Imma punch you SO hard.

I hope you like and review a lot! ^^

Usually things start kicking in behind chapter ten, it's where things get crazy. But we're ahead of schedule here! :D


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello o-o

Fancy meeting you all here. Come here often?

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As soon as they got to Berk, lunch was ending. Adults and children were all in the square, giving out good-byes as they braced themselves to return back to work. Dragons waited eagerly for their humans to be finished talking, tails lashing with excitement. The happy atmosphere almost fooled Hiccup into believing that Toothless would be waiting for him at the forge, the same large smile pasted across his face. But Hiccup knew better than that of course.

As soon as they stepped foot into the village, the happy feeling broke instantly. People's jobs slipped their mind as gasps traveled around the clearing, horrified looks shining on children's faces as they caught sight of Astrid and Hiccup. Hiccup was still bleeding from the claw marks hidden under his clothes, and he had to lean on Astrid to keep himself from falling over. The blonde Viking looked frazzled, her concern for Hiccup and the knowledge of what just happened making her seem like a wreck. When really, anger was burning underneath, the teen having to stop herself from turning back around and killing the stupid female. All of this was her fault, she was certain of it now. Hiccup wasn't just freaking out when he shared his suspicions with her.

People rushed forward, pressing on the two as Astrid finally came to a stop, still holding on tightly to Hiccup. The boys head was hung, and he was staring at the ground with a totally blank look, seeming oblivious to the yelling people around him. Astrid gave a small huff, raising her voice so that she could be heard above the clamor. "HEY!" She yelled, the crowd immediately hushing around her. "Calm down! Something came up, and I think we need to talk to Stoick about it. Where is he?"

One or two of the people in the crowd looked at her crossly, as if they felt like they had been cheated from a good story. But somebody from the back of the crowd shouted over the others. "He's in the Great Hall still! Him and Gobber!" Not even bothering to wait for the crowd to part for her and Hiccup, Astrid shoved her way through, mentally cursing herself as she saw that she was still shaky. It was just something she didn't expect, that was all. It surprised her entirely, she wasn't able to comprehend any of it.

Reaching out, Astrid managed to push the door open without letting go of Hiccup. The boy let out a small mumble that sounded like an apology, trying to wriggle away from Astrid's arms. But the girl only tightened her grip stubbornly, she wasn't gonna let go. Walking back into the warmth of the Hall, Astrid spotted Stoick and Gobber immediately. The two were sitting next to each other, talking as they finished off their lunch.

Sucking in a deep breath, Astrid let go of Hiccup, the boy regaining his balance as he straightened beside her. "What do we tell them?" Hiccup mumbled, his voice so quiet that the others couldn't possibly have heard. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye nervously as he spoke. Astrid blinked in turn, giving him a small smile as she mouthed: 'Winging it.'

Hiccup paused for a moment before turning back and starting forward bravely. Astrid shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously, biting her lower lip. She didn't know why she was so scared, Stoick wasn't her father and Toothless wasn't her dragon. But he might as well have been. Toothless and Hiccup were always together, and since Hiccup had been with Astrid most of the time, Toothless would be there wagging his tail with the goofy smile on his face. It had started to get annoying, but soon it grew on Astrid. The blonde would give anything for Toothless to be tagging along right now.

"Dad?" Hiccup spoke up, Stoick looking up from his conversation.

"Hiccup!" His father greeted. He paused for a moment, looking oddly at his son before asking. "What's the matter? Did something happen? Don't tell me that you-"

"No, Dad." Hiccup interrupted shortly. "It's Toothless." Stoick blinked, obviously surprised by that. Hiccup plowed on. "He's changed. Ever since the female came here, he's been acting weird. Today I tried to go flying with him, and he completely forgot I was there and it got too rough. Him and the female were having a sort of race and I ruined it because I didn't see the rock in front of us quickly enough. We accidentally crashed into it, and the female said something to Toothless. Then he glared at me and refused to even look at me. After I came back for a while, Astrid said that she would go with me to try and even it all out. And when we came back, Toothless didn't even look at me anymore, it was like I wasn't there. Then the female jumped at me," Stoick stiffened as he heard this part. "and Astrid threw a rock at her to get her off of me. Toothless was just watching, Dad, he didn't even try and do anything." Hiccup's voice broke, and he looked away. "He growled at me, Dad. He glared at me and threatened to attack me too."

"What!" Stoick yelled, Hiccup jumped backwards as his father slammed his fist down on the table. Gobber eyed Stoick carefully, but he looked at Hiccup with concern clear in his eyes. It wasn't a secret that Gobber treated Hiccup like a son most of the time, although he showed that in an odd way as the two fought most of the time. But Hiccup wasn't even paying attention, his wide eyes set on Stoick. His father's eyes were blazing with anger, and he looked back at his son, seeing for the first time his tattered clothes and scratched-up skin. "Did Toothless do that?" He demanded.

Astrid came to the rescue this time as she stepped forward. "No, that was the female."

Stoick seemed to have calmed down somewhat, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at the table. Hiccup fidgeted uncomfortably as his scratches started to sting and itch, his eye twitched as his hands started to wring in front of him endlessly. Silence weighed down on the four Vikings, and Hiccup could literally feel the tension press down on his shoulders. Finally, Stoick spoke up. "We can't let this happen to more people." He said, glancing at his son's state.

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked, eyeing the chief wearily.

"What if it happens to more people?" Stoick said sharply, Astrid snapping her mouth shut as he glared at her. "If what you say is true, it's dangerous to leave them alone. What if somebody else gets hurt? Or worse? I always knew that there had to be something else to Toothless, and now look at what he's done! He's a monster."

Hiccup flinched away from the words. "I can try harder to train them, I'm sure that-"

"We can't let them stay on the island anymore." Stoick said firmly.

Hiccup blinked rapidly, looking at his dad with confusion. "But I'm sure that if we could just-"

"Hiccup, I know that you and Toothless might have been close before, but you have to see what is right in front of you. He is a danger now, if he could try and attack you, he would do it to anybody then. He's not the way you remember him, Odin knows why. He's a danger to the island, therefore we have to make him leave."

"But we can give him one more chance, right?" Hiccup pleaded.

Stoick shook his head once, standing up from the table swiftly. "You need to get those scratches looked at, they look like they could get bad. I have to go and deal with the dragons, we need to get them off of our island as soon as we can, before any meddlesome child finds their way into the cove."

Hiccup stiffened, eyes widening as his father made his way to the door. "Wait…you aren't going to-" He broke off, shaking his head as he stumbled forward. "No, Dad, wait! You can't kill them! The female could just go back where she came from, and Toothless…" He trailed off, swallowing. "You just can't kill them!"

"There isn't another way. Would you rather us just keep Toothless locked up in the stables for the rest of his life?" His probing look shot down to Hiccup, and the smaller boy ducked his head, mind racing. He couldn't bear it if Toothless was killed, no matter what happened with the Night Fury. The only thing Hiccup could think about was the Night Fury's wide, lopsided grin. But then again, the thought of him being pinned up in the stables wasn't too happy either. Toothless would probably RATHER be dead with that one.

He stared at the ground blankly for a while, aware of everyone's gaze trained on him. He shuffled from one foot to his metal one, mind racing as he tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he raised his head, looking up at his father with unblinking eyes. "The female could just go back where she came from…but I think she wants to stay with Toothless. He can't fly on his own."

Astrid spoke up quietly where she stood, her graze fixed on the ground as she refused to look up at Hiccup. "You could re-make his tail again." She murmured. Hiccup blinked, turning back around to look at her. "It's not like he'll refuse it this time. Right? That way he could go with her and they would leave Berk."

Hiccup started, having forgotten about the tail that Toothless had destroyed long ago. It was true, he probably would take it without question now. He would probably take it and then take off into the air without even looking at Hiccup. Just like last time. "It would work…" He said thoughtfully, not exactly keen on the idea.

"We don't have time for that!" Stoick snapped, glaring at the two teens. "You have to understand that having two dragons on our island that are doing things such as this," He gestured to Hiccup. "is a very dangerous thing! Odin knows what they'll do, and I have to solve this problem before it gets too out of hand! We can't wait for something to be made-"

"The ice!" Astrid said suddenly, the idea worming its way into her mind. "They could go across the ice! It wouldn't crack when it's in the middle of winter now, so it would be safe for them! We just have to chase them out onto the ice or something, and hopefully they'll just keep going back to wherever the female came from!" Hiccup winced at the idea, wrapping his vest tighter around himself as if he were cold. He had to admit that it was a better idea than killing them. Astrid was trying to help Toothless as much as he was.

"But what happens when they get there?" Hiccup asked sullenly. "Toothless still wont be able to fly. Can't I just make the tail? I already know how to do it, and I'm sure it would only take me a few hours! He wont be a real Night Fury with the others if he can't fly. I don't think tailfins grow back for dragons."

"Should you really care 'bout that?" Gobber chirped where he sat. "I mean, it's no' really somethin you should worry yourself over, right? Not with everythin' else goin' on right now. He'll be fine, don't you worry about it." Hiccup looked at his mentor doubtfully, but didn't object as he lowered his eyes back to the ground.

Stoick had been silent for a while, staring thoughtfully at Astrid. Nothing happened for a while, the only sound being the strangely-loud crackle of the fire in the hearth. But then he gave the blonde a small nod of approval. "I guess that could work." He said, looking over at his son. "If you want to make it more complicated than it needs to be." But in the back of his mind, he remembered how the dragon had turned back into the fire to save his son from death. So maybe he owed the Night Fury something. "How do you say that we go about doing this?"

Astrid looked over at Hiccup, only to blink with surprise as he saw that the boy was shuffling away, head down as he made his way back outside into the cold. The blonde gave a small sigh as she watched him, almost seeing the pain of loosing Toothless radiating off of him. It really wasn't fair, especially since Hiccup had no idea what was going on. He didn't deserve all of the things that had been happening to him.

She shook herself as the door slammed shut again. She turned back to Stoick, wringing her hands in front of her as she spoke. "I think that we should wait until tomorrow for early morning." She said hesitantly. When Stoick looked angry at the idea, she immediately went back. "It's the best time to do this! Because listen…"

In the back of her mind, she knew that Hiccup was going to the forge anyway. You could never tell that boy no. He never listened. She had to make sure that he had enough time to make a replica of the tailfin. Despite her anger at Toothless's sudden anger, she agreed he needed the chance to be a true dragon. Her and Hiccup were going to make that happen.

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The sun hadn't even risen into the sky when the group of alert Vikings slunk through the snow, making their way for the cove. Hiccup and Astrid were in the lead, staying close to each other. Hiccup's face was filled with sorrow as he looked back at the Vikings that held swords and clubs. "Just in case." His father had said, when Hiccup had seen the weapons in hand. He had looked sourly back in response, but hadn't said anything.

The large bag that was slung over his shoulder held Toothless's tailfin. Astrid and him both had agreed that Stoick wouldn't have agreed to Hiccup making the fin himself, it was as if everything that the Night Fury had once done was now gone. Astrid had made up the plan about the ice instead, having to fight Stoick for a long time before he finally agreed to wait until morning. Hiccup didn't see what the big deal was, if his father could have waited this long, he could have just waited for him to make the tail. But maybe the thought of the dragon never being able to fly again appealed to him. A thought that made Hiccup scowl.

Bandages had been set firmly around Hiccup's stomach last night by Astrid, another around his leg. It only made the claw marks itch more, only increasing his irritation with the cuts. He had to grit his teeth tightly together to draw his attention from the still-stinging cuts, which he was sure wouldn't be good for his teeth in the long run. But that was by far not the biggest of his worries right now.

"Hiccup." The boy jumped as he heard his father's voice behind him. The boy turned and looked up nervously, chewing on his bottom lip. Stoick leaned over and grabbed the bag from Hiccup quickly, the boy having no time to say anything before his father picked up the tailfin in his hand.

It was something that Hiccup was proud of. He thought it was even better than his last one, which was great considering he was in such a rush last night. He had ran around the forge in such a hurry, that he was surprised he didn't wake up the whole village. The fin was still a glossy black color, seeming to glisten in the light like a real fin. Hiccup tried to make it as real-looking as possible. He had done something that he had ultimately regretted as soon as he did it though.

Near the edge of the fin, where hopefully Toothless's tail would cover it up, was a small handprint. Hiccup had to admit that he wasn't thinking at all when he did it, but at least he had the decency to make it a dark color also. In dark gray was his handprint on the edge. Hiccup knew that Toothless would never see it, considering that his tail would most likely cover it up, but it helped Hiccup to think that no matter what Toothless thought of him, a part of him would still be with the Night Fury wherever he went.

"I made a new one anyway." Hiccup said flatly, surprising his father as he looked directly into his eyes. "I want Toothless to be happy, and I know that he loves to fly. I'm not stripping him of something that he loves just because he doesn't like me anymore. You can say whatever you want, but I'm giving it to him." He reached up and took back the tail, spotting the cove coming up close.

Stoick looked at his son thoughtfully for a moment or two before he finally spoke. "Someday you'll make a good chief, Hiccup." Blinking with surprise, Hiccup looked back and gave his father a small smile. In turn, Stoick turned back and gestured for silence, the crowd going quiet at once. "We are just back-up!" He called. Some of the people in the crowd looked confused at the change of plans, mummers traveling around the mass of people. Stoick waited for a moment or two before it settled, then explained. "Hiccup has a better idea, which will hopefully be better than our first plan. These are my orders, so listen!" He paused glancing back at Hiccup and Astrid as if to make sure that they were listening also.

"Hiccup is going to go down into the cove and do his part. The rest of us are going to keep to the bushes of the cove and watch. If anything is to happen with one of the dragons, we are all going to attack, with no mercy. Got that?" A few people looked crestfallen at the lack of a good plan (again), but most people just nodded tensely, too worried to feel cheated.

Stoick looked back at Hiccup, and gave his son a small nod. "Be careful."

"I'm not worried." Hiccup murmured, almost to himself as he turned and started down into the cove. He was aware of the Vikings' gaze trained intently on him as he landed with a small thump on the ground. Despite what happened the other times he had come here, Toothless immediately raised his head as Hiccup edged closer. The female was still asleep, eyes shut tight as a low snoring noise came from her. Toothless's ears flattened, and he stood up immediately, growling warningly as Hiccup came closer.

There was a loud rustle in the bushes behind him, and Hiccup held up his hand behind him in a STOP. At once, the noise behind him stopped. Taking in a calming breath through the noise, Hiccup's steps got smaller and smaller as he got closer and closer to Toothless. The Night Fury's growl was loud now, and the female stirred slightly where she lie, fidgeting in her sleep as her ears flattened. Toothless glanced back at her, changing to baring his teeth at Hiccup instead.

Pressing down the raw sadness that he felt from Toothless's narrowed eyes, Hiccup slowly brought the tailfin into view, watching as Toothless's growling faltered, the dragon's ears perking as he recalled the familiar fin. Hiccup started speaking in a low voice, trying to keep his voice strong instead of wavering. "They don't want you on the island anymore." He murmured, Toothless looking at him oddly as he went on. "They think you and the female are dangerous. They wanted to kill you."

Toothless immediately crouched down to the ground, letting out a loud and furious roar. The female's eyes snapped open wide and she scrambled to her feet, whirling around for the danger. She deadpanned as she saw Hiccup, but the teen barely noticed it, too busy staring at Toothless. A lump was devolving in his throat, and his voice came out thick. "But I know you aren't like that. Me and Astrid both know better. We wouldn't let them hurt you."

Toothless drew back slightly, eyes still narrowed as he glared at Hiccup. It was like he was expecting hordes of Viking people to dart from behind him and attack the two dragons. Hiccup tried to control his breathing as he felt his shoulders start to shake. He thought that this would be as easy to do when he gave him the fin last time, but it wasn't. It was harder because he knew that Toothless hated him now because of the female. He knew that Toothless would never come back because he'd be too busy soaring through the skies freely with her. And Hiccup would never be able to find a dragon like him ever again. He'd be the only one in the village without a dragon of his own.

"We got them to agree to let you go." He said around the thickness in his throat. He extended the tailfin and started forward slowly. "If you let me put it on, you'll be able to go without them chasing you. You'd be free to go." The female's eyes shone at the last part, and she chirped happily to Toothless. The male gave a smile, and Hiccup's eyes blurred automatically as he saw the dragon. The bright eyes were back, but it was different. He was happy to be leaving. Not happy to be staying with Hiccup and going flying with the boy. He was smiling for the wrong reason.

Taking a step forward, Hiccup leaned down to the ground and put the tail beside Toothless's tail. He gave a shaky sigh as he saw the small handprint the had so stupidly added last night. Reaching out, he lined up his palm and pressed it against the dried paint, feeling the familiar touch of leather underneath. Images flashed through his mind of him and Toothless. Lying on the grass and looking up at the clouds, soaring through the air with certain ease, Toothless's head stuck through the window of the forge as he watched Hiccup work. It had been a wonder at first, to walk past the Blacksmith shop and see the large behind of Toothless sticking out from the window. But soon enough, the people just laughed and said, "Hiccup must be working."

He was jolted from his thoughts as the female snapped out an impatient growl. Shaking his head and reaching up to wipe his eyes roughly, Hiccup strapped the tail onto Toothless tightly, securing it and making sure that it would stay on. He hesitated for a moment before looking up, his watery eyes meeting Toothless's straight on. "Good luck, Buddy." He whispered hoarsely.

As Hiccup eyes met Toothless's, the dragon started somewhat, tilting his head to the side as his eyes widened somewhat, the narrowed look he had taken to give Hiccup leaving as Hiccup saw a flash of his old dragon come back. For a heartbeat, Toothless looked like he was about to go forward to him, but the female let out another yip, intercepting the two and locking gazes with Toothless. Hiccup was pushed back, and he let out a muffled squeak as he sank into the snow. Pushing himself up slowly, he looked with confusion at the female.

Toothless immediately recovered, giving her a small snort and a nod. The two lined p together, and the female pushed herself off of the ground, wings spreading out as she climbed up into the sky. Toothless stayed back for a moment or two, looking at the ground carefully before he looked over sideways at Hiccup.

The boy's eyes filled over, and he felt warm streaks slowly go down his face as tears left marks down his cheeks. His shoulders were shaking, and when he spoke, his voice was chocked back and thicker than before. "Bye, Buddy." He sobbed dryly. Toothless looked away quickly, wings spreading out as he followed behind the female, gone in an instant. It was quick, but it wasn't painless.

Footsteps came up behind him, and he realized that Astrid was behind him. She crouched down to sit beside him, glancing over at him with sadness. Hiccup curled his knees up to his chest, and he buried his head away from her, more and more tears falling down onto the fabric of his shirt, making small dots as they melted away. "Please leave me alone." He whispered brokenly.

Astrid didn't say anything else, leaning over and wrapping her arms around her friend tightly, closing her eyes as she held him close. Almost unconsciously he turned closer to face her, trying to find comfort from her prescience beside him. Behind them, there were rustles in the bushes, but no others came down to confront them. The Vikings left one-by-one, back to the village, eyes heavy with sadness of the loss that they all felt.

Stoick and Gobber were left in the clearing, looking down into the cove emptily at the two teenagers.

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A/N: Dear Tradith: I am aware that Toothless is OOC, you must not have gotten it, but Nightflight is hypnotizing him. Therefore, he can't really be in charge of himself. So…yeah. I didn't want you to keep leaving stuff like that, so there you go ^^

Did you like the story? It's over! :D

No it's not. I kid. I kid. *derp face*

This chapter made me sad inside D: *goes off to listen to Disney Music*

I LOVE CHUR REVIEWS!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Yes, I did eventually get my Gift of the Night Fury. Although I'm totally thinking of whether or not to sue Amazon. They kept me waiting for the most amazing movie short ever. I found out that if you leave it on, THE MOVIE FREAKING STARTS ITSELF OVER. My life…is surrounded by HTTYD. And now they have made a movie that NEVER. ENDS. I'll have fun with that ;^;

I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday. I got a lot of homework, then I had to go to an after-school religion thing. So there's all of that right up in my face~ But I am back! And…this is the chapter. That I have been waiting so eagerly to write. I hope you all like it. And I hope you die of cuteness while reading. O.O Actually, this is the idea that made up everything else in the story, so this is really cool for me to finally reach it! But Gobber's accent is hard to do without it being understandable, so bear with me.

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"I don't know what to do, Gobber." Stoick huffed, frustration welling up inside the chief as he stood beside his old friend. "It's been a week. You'd think that he would have gotten over it by now, but nothing had changed. I thought it was something that would just last a few days. And whenever I try to bring up the subject of a new dragon, you should see the look he throws at me. He has to grow up sometime, he's too old to be moping around like that."

Gobber blinked slowly, his breath coming out of his mouth in a steam and furling into a small cloud in front of him. Overhead, a small snow was starting to pick up, white flakes drifting down to the island of Berk in an almost lazy pattern. It was a good break from the usual blizzards that shot down from the sky, and most children were out making snowmen by now. Through the mass of playing children, he spotted the group of teenagers together.

They looked somewhat bored, sitting around together and looking around aimlessly. Gobber immediately caught sight of Hiccup near the edge, sitting beside Astrid. The boy had on a small smile as he opened his mouth in a small laugh at something that she had said. For a moment, Gobber wondered what had Stoick so irritated, but then frowned. Astrid flashed Hiccup something of a relieved smile, leaning back to say something Snotlout. As soon as she looked away, Hiccup's smile wavered somewhat, his eyes flickering up to the sky as if he was expecting something.

Heaving a small sigh, he turned back to Stoick and looked at his friend calmly. "Maybe you shouldn't try to start so big." He offered, the chief giving him an odd look as he spoke. "I mean- you have to remember that Hiccup an' Toothless were closer than most of 'em. Maybe he just aint ready for another one."

"I don't see what you mean by starting small." Stoick grunted, shooting a small glare over to the Viking. "Hiccup just needs to get over Toothless and pick out a new dragon. A Monstrous Nightmare, perhaps. It might not be as strong as a Night Fury, but it sure is close. I'm sure that soon he'd be as good of friends as he was with Toothless. As Chief's son, he really should be setting an example for every one else, not being quiet and depressed. He just needs to be shaken out of it."

Gobber was shaking his head even before Stoick could finish. "Nah, that's not what I was meant." He said shortly, glancing over at Hiccup one more time. Snotlout was slowly crafting a small snowball, and Gobber supposed that soon the whole village would be overrun by flying snowballs. He might as well get his point across now. "You can't start with a dragon, Stoick." He explained, eyeing the group as the snowball was chucked into the back of Astrid's head. "That defeats the purpose of startin' SMALL."

Stoick gave a small grunt to show that he was listening. Astrid whipped around, glaring daggers at Snotlout as she made her own ball of ice, throwing it square in the boy's face. Ruffnut and Tuffnut grinned where they sat, and started to join in, Ruffnut throwing one that hit Hiccup's back. The boy started, getting up and hesitating for a moment or two before joining in, a ghost of a smile getting stronger and stronger on his face as he hit Fishlegs. Adults passing by grumbled as they got hit by the flying balls, and the little children around the scene screamed with excitement, joining in the snowball fight as more and more people started to dash forward. Gobber preferred to stay where it was dry, but seeing the sight made a small idea wriggle into his head.

"That's it!" He said, catching Stoick back to attention at once. "You need to get somethin' to get Hiccup's mind off of Toothless. Since he doesn't want a dragon yet, you should get him somethin' that isn't a dragon. Somethin' that he needs to take care of and pay attention to. You know wha' I mean?"

"Where would I ever get something like that?" Stoick asked, obviously wanting to go with his plan other than Gobber's complicated one. "Why can't I just-"

"Stoick, trust me. I know Hiccup, and if you get him a new dragon, he'll just ignore it. He wont take care of it, and if you force him to, he wont love it for anythin'. You have to smart about this. If you get him something that he has to have patience with, and has to raise, then it'll be somethin' that will surely get his mind off of Toothless and bring 'im out of the state he found himself in. Trust me, it'll work."

Stoick gave his friend a skeptical look, but supposed that right now wasn't the best time to question him. It was true that he could trust Gobber, he'd trust him with anything. The only time that Gobber had let him down was the first dragon raid when Hiccup was his apprentice. He had taken his eyes off of Hiccup for two minutes, and the boy had zipped away. But that had been the last time he had let Stoick down, after he truly realized why everybody was looking at Hiccup closely all of the time. "I'm still not sure about this, Gobber…" Stoick sighed heavily.

"Aw, it'll work." Gobber said, waving it away with his one good hand. "Actually, I think I know exactly what could work for Hiccup. Do you know Bertha? The one that lives near the edge of the village?" Stoick let out a small mumble, looking over curiously to the house where she lived in. Gobber followed his gaze. "I heard that her pet-"

"We don't need one of those in the house." Stoick interrupted, giving his friend a small glare. "I'm sorta confused on how many trouble-makers you want in my house, Gobber. I don't know about you, but my limit is one."

"You let Toothless stay inside the house." Gobber said fairly. "Just give it a try, Stoick. Which do ye want? A few messes here and there around the house with your son going back to the way he was? Or do you want to do nuthin and just keep things like they are? Besides, it'll be too small to do anything rash for a long time."

"That's what I thought when Hiccup was born." Stoick sighed. But his gaze turned thoughtful as he looked back at the group of teenagers. It wasn't such a bad idea, much as he hated to admit it. He was never one to have a soft and thoughtful side, but it made sense. If Hiccup would take care of the new animal and raise it, then he would be able to move on to another dragon soon enough in time. Although it wasn't exactly something that he preferred doing - was used to doing, for that matter - he was willing to at least give it a try considering what could happen if he didn't do anything about the matter.

"Gobber, you make me do the weirdest things. You and Hiccup both do." Stoick said, face still blank.

"I know, I know." The Viking chuckled, turning away and starting back to the forge. "It would be more impressive if we had planned it that way, eh? Good luck Stoick!" And with that his friend rounded the corner and disappeared.

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Silence. Tense silence reigned through the room as Hiccup looked down at his plate. He was still hungry, but after five minutes of awkward silence, he would excuse himself just to get away from his father. He didn't have to look up to see the look on his father's face, he could feel it boring into him. Stoick's eyes were narrowed, a somewhat blank look on his face that he always got when he looked at Hiccup.

Bunching his shoulders slightly, Hiccup poked at his food dumbly, giving a small cough to fill the moment of quiet. It wasn't like they talking extensively during dinner, but it wasn't silent like this. Stoick usually shot a few words to Hiccup to start a conversation, and basically Hiccup talked the rest of the time until Stoick finally got up and left in the middle of one of his stories.

Stoick didn't even try and mumble a few things to him. He only stared at his son carefully, the probing look making Hiccup shift uneasily in his seat. Clearing his throat finally, Hiccup lifted his eyes up to meet his father's. "Uh…I think I'm gonna go up to my room now." He said quietly, dropping his fork onto his plate with a small clatter. "I guess I'm not really hungry."

Stoick blinked slowly at his words, and Hiccup paused for a moment or two before trying to make a move to get up. As soon as he did that though, his father spoke up, making him freeze. "Hiccup, sit down. I need to talk to you." Blinking rapidly, Hiccup planted himself back down with a small thump, looking at his father nervously, a slight grimace on his face.

Taking a deep breath, Stoick leaned down and placed a rather large bag on the table. Hiccup eyed the pouch as his father began to talk. "Well, Hiccup." Hiccup wished that there was silence again, he didn't like the tone his father was using. "I know that Toothless being gone has…upset you." Hiccup blinked, guard dropping slightly with surprise. "And I…understand that you do not want a new dragon so soon."

His father was taking pauses, clearly not being used to talking about things like this. Mostly the words 'understand' and 'I know you're upset' were not something that crossed his tongue very much. If they had been talking about anything else, Hiccup would have been trying not to smile, but he merely stared steadily at his father without saying a word, the pouch still going as a mystery to him.

"So I thought that you might want to start small." Stoick reached over to the bag and picked it up gingerly. Hiccup blinked with surprise as he saw something wriggle from inside, a small squeak just barley reaching his ears. Putting the bag down in front of Hiccup, Stoick pulled back and nodded towards the bag invitingly.

"I don't want a baby dragon either, Dad." Hiccup said shortly, nudging the bag away.

"For Thor's sake, Hiccup!" Stoick snapped. "Open it! You got not idea what's in there."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Hiccup pulled the bag back to him roughly, a louder squeak following the movement. Blinking, he pushed it away, untying the top of the bag and peering inside. It was actually bigger inside the bag than he had expected, and for a minute he didn't see anything in there. But then there was a small flash of eyes, and something small reached up and poked him in the nose.

"Wha-?" The boy looked down oddly into the bag for a moment before reaching inside and feeling something fuzzy, fur like down rubbing against his hand. Feeling around, he finally got his hand to wrap around the thing and he pulled it out to look at it fully. "What?" He repeated, looking back up at his father. "I didn't ask for this."

It was a small kitten, just weaned from its mother. Fur stuck out in what seemed like all directions, and its steps were just starting to get less shaky, the cat growing confident in its strides. It was silver, and really fluffy. When it looked up at Hiccup, the boy caught a flash of amber eyes, and it opened its mouth in a chirp, pink tongue sticking out as it did so. Outlined on the silver fur, black stripes lanced down the cat's spine and sides, making a border on its forehead.

Hopping forward, the cat pressed its head to Hiccup's hand, meowing shrilly. Hiccup didn't even look at the cat, his eyes fixed on his father's. "Where did you get it?" He asked.

"Bertha's cat had kittens a few weeks ago. I figured that it would be good for you."

"Why?" Hiccup asked flatly.

"You know, to have something to look after." Stoick said, gesturing to the cat uselessly. "Actually, it was Gobber's idea. But o' course, I went along with it. You might not want a dragon, but you need to move on from Toothless. Stop moping around the village and things like that." Clearing his throat loudly, he pushed back from the table, standing up and turning back to go to his room. "It's your problem now." And with that, he left.

Hiccup blinked again, looking down at the kitten. It had taken to lying down on the table now, more or less in a crouching position. It's eyes were wide as it looked around, and it let out a small mewl to the unfamiliar landscape. All in all, it looked pretty pathetic. Looking around the room, he half expected somebody to crash through the door and tell him that it was joke of some kind. But nothing happened.

Staring down at the cat for what seemed like forever, he finally let out a short sigh, deadpanning as he reached forward. Grabbing the loose skin around its neck and lifting it into the air, Hiccup watched as the kitten immediately curled up into a small ball. Blowing out his cheeks and holding the cat closer to him, Hiccup started up to his room, stumbling up the steps with difficulty thanks to his leg.

After he had made the kitten a small bed in the corner of the room, Hiccup placed the bundle into the mound of pillows. The small thing nearly got swallowed up by the mass of pillows, letting out a startled mew as it sank it's microscopic claws into the surface of the pillows, clinging on for life. Hiccup stepped back to asses his work, and gave a small nod. "You'll sleep there." He said firmly. "It looks okay enough."

The cat let out another loud meow, but Hiccup turned back and got into his bed. Wrapping his blanket around him tightly, Hiccup tried to ignore the cold that had started to get to him. Something near the back of his room made a small clanging noise, but Hiccup ignored it roughly.

He didn't want the cat. He didn't want something that would try and replace Toothless, because it never could. The boy drew his knees up to his chest, the cold metal of his prosthetic chilling him as he did so. His teeth started to chatter, and he made a face as the kitten mewed once more behind him. "Go to sleep." He snapped, burrowing his head into the pillow, trying to block out the noise. But the cat still kept it up, mewing loudly, high-pitched and annoying.

Glaring hotly at the wall, Hiccup listening as the incessant noise got closer and closer. Balling his hands into fists, he started to curse his father and Gobber for even thinking that he would want such a thing. It was annoying, small, and it would never do anything for him. He had never had a cat for a reason. He might have pleaded for it when he was little, but he grew out of it once he saw Ruffnut's old cat attack her face viciously. One of the many reasons why he didn't necessarily like cats.

The boy blinked as he realized that the meowing had stopped. It was just as silent in the room as it was at the dinner table before the cat had been introduced. Blinking rapidly, Hiccup pushed himself up slowly, craning his neck so he was able to see the mound of pillows in the corner. He made a face as he realized that it was empty.

Pushing himself up fully, Hiccup looked around the floor for the missing kitten. It wasn't anywhere on the floor either. Finally, Hiccup jumped as he spotted it, sitting right beside his pillow, large amber orbs fixed on him as he looked down at it curiously. Finally he spoke, tilting his head to the side. "How did you get here so fast?" He asked curiously.

The kitten let out a tiny mew in response, slinking forward and settling down on the edge of Hiccup's pillow, big amber eyes almost pleading as it looked up at him. It was silent once more before, "You know, I don't even know if you're a boy or a girl." Hiccup said eventually, eyeing it carefully. He had half a mind to shoo it back to the corner where it was supposed to sleep, but something in him bent as he looked at the cat fully. It looked exhausted from the trek onto the bed, the least he could do would be to let it sleep there.

"Just for one night." He said stiffly, looking at it indifferently. "Then you're back over there. Alright?"

The cat closed its eyes immediately, its purr audible from where Hiccup sat, loud for the size of the small thing. Laying back down, Hiccup shuffled to the side, leaving enough room for the kitten on his pillow. If it was only one night, it would be fine. As long as it was just one night.

Looking at the bundle of fur, Hiccup noted that it looked a little dirty. Maybe he could wash it in the morning. He had heard rumors that cats hated water, he supposed he would test that then. It also looked like it was hungry, Hiccup wondered what food to give it. Reaching over, he stroked the cat's back slowly, the downy fur feeling velvety soft against the skin of his hand. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Well- not as bad as he thought it would be. It still probably wouldn't amount to anything.

Letting his hand rest on the cat's back comfortingly, Hiccup closed his eyes, probably just as tired as the small kitten. For once, the teen wasn't staring emptily at the spot where Toothless was lying, not at the moment. The hole was still there, Hiccup could feel it in his heart like a ragged gash.

But right before he sank into sleep, he let a small, genuine smile cross his face.

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A/N: This is not stalling, this cute little cat actually DOES have something to do with the story X3

I hope you like this story, and I hope that you will review! Give me your input! What do you think the cat is, a boy or a girl? What would you name it?

…Steak? …In an Easy Bake oven? …With spices and everything?

YOU'RE ON! *Epic determined face*


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So you all finally get what you have been waiting for! A Toothless and Nightflight POV! Impossible you say? Think again! HO HO HO. (Totally in Christmas mode right now) Thanks for all of the reviews and feedback, I really liked all of them! Look! We're past 100 reviews now! I'm so happy! ^^ So thank you~!

Anyway, I'm still deciding on the name for the cat, and I think that know what it will be. I still wont tell you the gender. Cause I'm just mean like that. ANYWAY, I'm sorry if this chapter ends up being shorter than most, school and everything like that sort of gets to me sometimes…also for those of you who read Warriors, this will be very familiar

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The sun was rising over the crest of the mountains, shining its warm light over the sweeping landscape. Upon the large island was in which the Night Furies had made their home, the stony beach and the sharp incline of mountains proving itself to be perfect homes for the beasts. It was a day's travel from the island of Berk, and a little way into the large island before the mountains actually started. It was a long way away from the land that Nightflight had found herself in, but she was perfectly fine with that. It would be better anyways, everything was perfect now.

The female Night Fury let out a drowsy purr as her eyes fluttered open slowly. Opening her jaws in a large yawn, she pushed herself up, raising her head and looking to the right, eyes softening at once. Beside her, Toothless was curled up in a ball, his tail covering his snout as he snored softly. Leaning over, she prodded her friend gently, pulling back to see his green orbs already opened and trained on her. She chuckled, "Good morning." She greeted, stifling a yawn.

Toothless let out a rumble, stretching before he pushed himself to a sitting position. He shifted, eyeing the space around him.

Him and Nightflight were seated in a large cavern of a cave, a few other Night Furies still asleep around them, snores and snuffles rising around him as Toothless listened. Behind them, the cave sloped downward, leading off into another section where the younglings were kept with their mothers. Those who were too young to fly were kept there until they learned how, a safety to the small things in case they wandered off to find themselves in a fight with a wild animal and loose. It wasn't guaranteed they would loose, they were old enough to shoot out flames and look dangerous enough. It was mostly to put the mother's mind at rest. Or that was what Nightflight had told him.

The cave didn't stop there, of course. It was not designed that way. Tunnels branched off here and there, twisting and turning so that the cave was underneath the entire mountain range of the island. It was like a large channel that was under tons and pounds of rocks. Only the Night Furies knew which tunnel lead where, sometimes the tunnels just led to a dead end. Others of their kind slept in different tunnels, almost like they wanted to cover the entire chamber in case something were to happen. Not that it ever did of course, the Night Furies had been here for as long as Toothless could remember. But of course he was born here at the same time. All in all, though, the exact way to go had slipped his mind over time, and he wasn't yet confident enough to travel the passages alone. But Nightflight didn't seem to want to leave his side at the same time, so the female had been something close to relieved when he had announced that to her.

The Night Furies had greeted them as strangers at first, but relived to find out that Nightflight had been okay. Relived and slightly surprised at her to have been so close to humans. But it had been nothing compared to when they caught sight of Toothless. Nightflight had been correct when she told him that the others had confirmed of his death to one another. It was like coming back to life before their eyes. Some had eyed him suspiciously, as if they weren't yet ready to trust somebody who had been gone for so long. But most of the dragons had cheered his return, one dragon had dashed forward to him and looked him right in the eye, nearly trembling with excitement. It had taken him more than enough time to realize that it had been his mother.

When Nightflight told of his story, the cheering had faltered somewhat. The very thought of a Night Fury having a human rider on their back made the welcome a little less warm. But of course Nightflight made it okay, smoothing over the situation with the facts that the human had shot his tailfin off, and how he had redeemed himself by not trusting the small thing anymore. Toothless had to admit, the other dragons had still looked at him oddly, but most seemed to be satisfied with the tale, welcoming the Night Fury back into their ranks, showing him the tunnels again and the territory around the mountains that they used to hunt for food.

"Arikara?" Nightflight's voice jarred the dragon from his thoughts, and he raised his head to look back at her. Nightflight looked at him with concern as she used Toothless's old name, tilting her head to the side as she stared at him steadily. "You don't regret coming here, right?" She prompted. "You didn't belong with that human, right?"

"Oh, I know that." Toothless said without hesitation, giving her a small smile. "I was just thinking about other things, I guess. I still have to figure out all of these tunnels, I don't think you can be by my side for the rest of my life." He saw Nightflight's eyes flash somewhat as he said that, but he went on anyway. "And besides, I want to be called Toothless. I know I left my past behind me, but I've grown familiar to the name."

Nightflight held his gaze for a moment before ducking her head. "You always were stubborn, I suppose." She said airily. But she straightened at once, eyes gleaming. "I can show you around again today!" She said brightly. "And then I can take you inside one of the tunnels and leave you there. That way you can test your knowledge of the passages."

Toothless's ears flicked at the idea, but he was cut off as a small grumble beside him made him turn. "Ugh, do you have to wake up so early?" Toothless blinked as he didn't recognize the dragon. Before too long, he realized that all the Night Furies around them had woken up, throwing the two looks of irritation. Flattening his ears self-consciously, Toothless shuffled from foot to foot.

A voice at the corner of the cave spoke up, soft and mildly amused. "Can you blame them?" Nightflight turned to see Toothless's mother looking at them with a soft look. "You go on ahead, don't listen to Delta. His bark is worse than his bite." Blinking slowly at the older dragon, Nightflight gave her a small nod before turning back to Toothless.

"Let's go!" The sooner we get started, the sooner we can see if you know the lay of that land yet!" She got to her feet and weaved around the few dragons that were just starting to wake, ignoring their bleary snaps and glares. She glanced over her shoulder to check if Toothless was coming or not as she veered off to the left, the tunnel making an ascent up. The Night Fury closed her eyes as memories rushed back to her, those of shared adventures and laughter that she had with Toothless. It was so long ago, it was a miracle that she had remembered the times. Toothless probably forgot, but it wouldn't take long until they could make more memories together. Hopefully it would turn out that way, it was something of a miracle for the Night Fury to be back with her.

All it took was something of a small nudge in the right direction. Nightflight's ears flicked back and forth uneasily as she looked at Toothless out of the corner of her eye. The Night Fury saw the glance, and gave her a smile, shuffling over to stand closer to her as the walls of the cave started to get closer together. "It'll get bigger soon." Nightflight assured, nearly jumping as Toothless pressed against her. "Then we'll get to another opening."

A little nudge. That was all it was. She told herself that over and over in her mind. But of course it had been more than that. It was fine now, though. Toothless was back with them, and all because she had confused him a teeny-tiny bit. It was something that she had known from birth, most dragons could do it too, but choose not to most of the time. She had found out she could do it when she was a little youngling.

She had wanted to go and be with the older dragons, who could fly through the air without a care. She had pleaded and begged for the longest time, but it always came out with the same answer: No. She had gotten so frustrated, that she resorted to glaring at her mother for long periods of time. For a while, nothing happened, but then when her mother returned the glare, something odd had happened. Her mother's face relaxed instantly as she met her gaze, a strange sort of tremor going through her. At first, Nightflight had gotten scared, but then her mother told her with a chuckle to go outside and fly.

The fact that she fell was besides the point. She realized that - after a few other experiences along the same lines of that - that some dragons with her included could control people if they tried hard enough. It was a wild and dangerous talent, something that she did not take lightly…most of the time. When Toothless had refused to come with her the first time, her thoughts flew back to all of the fun times they had together, and the grief that she had felt as strongly as his family when he had left. That's when she knew she had to change his mind.

It wasn't too long before she realized they had come farther into the cave then she imagined. She hadn't been paying attention when they twisted and turned through the passages and past the other Night Furies, her thought were too muddled to make sense of it. For a moment, she had no idea where she was, but then relief flooded through her as she spotted the dead end ahead. She knew where they were.

Drawing herself to full height, she looked back at Toothless with mock authority. "Aright then, I hope you were paying attention where we went, because I'm going to leave you here and go back to the place where we slept last night. You have to wait a few minutes and then go back the way we came."

Toothless started, "But…we went too far!" He objected, glaring at her. "You can't possibly expect me to find my way back! You made too many turns, it isn't fair. What if I get lost?"

"Don't worry. If you don't come up for a long time, I'll just go back and find you. I know this place like that back of my paw, I'll find you. And there are always others around here somewhere. If they aren't hunting that it." Giving him a small wink, she turned and flashed away in a black blur, disappearing into the tunnel instantly.

Toothless snorted disdainfully, glaring after her hotly. But he did as he was told and waited for a while, eyeing the dark shadows around him as he did so. Once he had gotten tired of sitting for so long, he got to his feet and started forward, choosing the tunnel that Nightflight did as he tried to make himself feel confident. It was hard to feel something like that in something close to darkness though. They had just woken up, and yet the cave was dark like night. Only fitting, he supposed.

The cave brought back faint memories of childhood back to Toothless, but they were mostly muddled up, he didn't think that they came back right. He did remember Nightflight though, he remembered getting into trouble with her. But that was it, he supposed, nothing else came to mind when thinking about the Night Fury. She seemed to remember a lot more about him though, maybe more than he knew himself.

Coming into a bigger space, Toothless eyed the two tunnels that branched away from each other. One curved to the side slightly, while the other went straight ahead. Taking in a deep breath, Toothless choose the one that went straight, finding sense in the trail as his footsteps echoed in the dank silence. He wasn't used to quiet, and from above, small drops of water dropped down and splashed on his nose squarely, making him jump. It wasn't like he was scared. No. He was never scared. As if to prove it, he puffed out his chest and choose the next tunnel without even thinking over it.

Which proved to be a mistake. Pretty soon, he was utterly lost. Tunnels lied before him, all going in different directions, and he wondered if this place possibly had an end to it. Looking back and forth between each cavern, he let out a loud and frustrated growl, stayed where he sat stubbornly as his gaze flickered every which way. His brain was muddled, he couldn't think straight, and he was all alone.

Hanging his head, he decided he would just have to wait for Nightflight to come and get him. Up ahead, he heard the small patter of footsteps, and he immediately perked up, lifting his head. "Nightflight?" He called out hopefully. Maybe any dragon could show him the way, but he found that he wanted it to be Nightflight for some odd reason.

But the dragon that came into view was a small youngling. When Toothless said small, he meant SMALL. It was a runt, tiny tail streaming out behind him as bright green eyes seemed to shine in the dim light of the cave. "Nope! You're Toothless, aren't you?" Toothless looked down as the small thing skidded to a stop in front of him, jumping up and down in front of him as if he couldn't stay still. "I heard you and since my siblings weren't playing with me, I figured that I could find you!"

"But it didn't take you that long…" Toothless said, eyeing the thing.

The small dragon blinked rapidly, letting out a shrill laugh. "That's because the nursery for all of the little dragons is right up ahead! I forgot that you're new here, let me show you!" He blinked owlishly up at the larger dragon. "Please! I'm tired of doing nothing around here, everybody thinks that just because I'm small I can't do anything!"

Toothless blinked rapidly, the little one taking it as a yes as it whirled around and stared back up the tunnel he had come from. Jumping, Toothless got back to his feet and followed, stumbling slightly as he did so. It was strange…as the youngling babbled on ahead of him, Toothless realized that he reminded him of someone. Someone that he felt like he should remember. But the name just wasn't coming up.

"By the way, my name is Shadowclaw!" The young one yelled back, glancing at him as he spoke. "I know your name of course, everybody was making such a fuss when we arrived a few days ago! You and Nightflight! Nightflight is actually my friend, she comes and visits me sometimes, she knows that most people don't play with me, so she takes my siblings place. When I get old enough, I think I'll ask her to be my teacher! You know, to teach me to hunt and fight? I bet you know a lot though, maybe you should be my teacher. But then again, I don't know you as much as I know Nightflight, so I think I'll still be with her. But you-"

The child talked too much! Toothless couldn't even remember what he had first said! His words came out fast in a tumble. He was hardly understandable, more like a loud buzzing noise than talking. The more the child went on, the more Toothless got angry by the fact that he couldn't place who was just like the youngling. The name….the name was just out of reach, and yet he couldn't grab it.

"Shadowclaw!" A yell up ahead snapped him back to attention. A female stood ahead, hackles raised as she eyed the youngling disapprovingly. "How many times have I told you not to wander off like that? It's a good thing Toothless was there, otherwise you would have gotten lost!"

"Pft. I was the one that helped him." Shadowclaw yipped, going forward and rubbing against his mother's legs. Blinking, the child started as Toothless walked by the two, heading for the place where Nightflight would be waiting. "I'll see you later, right?" The youngling called, eyes widening as he broke away from his mother. "Bye, Toothless! Maybe you can come back some other time!"

Toothless let out a small growl in his throat, heading back up to Nightflight. The Night Fury was waiting for him, spinning around and purring loudly as she caught sight of him. "There you are! I was just about to go out and try to find you." She paused for a moment before adding. "It looks like you know that part. But that was only half, I have to show you the rest! And then I should probably show you all of the dead-ends so that you'll know where to go if you ever find yourself in one!"

Toothless looked after her for a moment or two, not exactly keen on being left in the tunnels again. Shaking himself, he galloped after her, not really focusing on where he was going. His thoughts stayed back with Shadowclaw, the small dragon clinging in his head like a stubborn cobweb. It confused him, to not be able to put a claw on what the thing reminded him of.

For a moment, there was a flash of green eyes in his head, not that of dragons, but of something else. But then it was gone, and he was drawn back into the presence.

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A/N: Aww! Isn't Shadowclaw so cute? Credit to Saber for the name! ^^

Did you all like this chapter?

I hope you did, because it took forever to write.

I was gonna say something else…I like, had it in my mind…but I can't remember.

So….

'Kay bye! :D


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: This story is back in Hiccup's place, so you all get more of the loveable guy. O-o We all love that. Not me. IM KIDDING HICCUP I LOVE YOU WITH THE BURNING PASSION OF 100000000000 EASY BAKE OVENS. O.O that's a lot of light bulbs, no?

I was on you tube, and if you want to go there and search up the song: The way I loved you by Selena Gomez, I think that it such a good song for both Hiccup's story, and Toothless's. I know it's by a girl, but I don't care :P Go search it up, it makes sense. (love being friendship love)

BTW: The cat is a silver Maine Coon just like my cat ^^

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The next day came too early. The sun streamed in from the window to Hiccup's right, shining right into his eyes. Grimacing bad-temperedly, the boy rubbed his eyes roughly, pushing himself up to a sitting position. He was usually ready to get up in the morning, but he didn't have anything to look forward to without flying with Toothless. It was just forcing himself up and making himself seem like he was interested in what the day brought with it.

Letting out a small huff, Hiccup let his hand slap down to his side, tossing off his covers as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Standing up fully, he blinked, his shoulders slumping as he caught sight of the place where Toothless used to sleep at night. It was empty now, the floorboards seeming somewhat empty as Hiccup walked forward.

Sitting down, Hiccup stared emptily at the space, as if he was waiting for Toothless to appear magically in front of him. He brought his knees to his chest, and he rested his head down on them. In the back of his mind, he wondered where Toothless was right now, whether or not the tail was holding up still. Whether or not Toothless was happy. Whether or not the dragons had made it back to their home yet. Whether or not Toothless missed him or not. Whether or not he even remembered him.

He swallowed uncomfortably. "I miss you, Buddy." He said, smiling weakly at the empty spot. He had resorted to talking to Toothless's sleeping spot, he needed professional help. Considering Gobber sometimes acted as the 'go-to' person around here, Hiccup doubted he would even try to talk to his mentor. The last time somebody had needed a shoulder to cry on, Gobber threw them out the window of the Blacksmith's. Hiccup was there, he had watched with wide eyes.

So nobody ever really went to Gobber anymore.

A small noise made him snap back to attention, his head whipping around as he tried to find the source of the squeak. The noise came again from his bed, and realization slammed into him as he stood back up, retracing his steps back to stand by his bedside. The small kitten's large amber eyes looked back up at him, and it let out a joyous meow that was unusually loud for something so small. Blinking rapidly, Hiccup knelt down so that his chin rested on the edge of the bed. He and the cat stared at each other intently for a few moments before he spoke to the small scrap of fur. "I can tell already that you're going to be a handful." He said clearly. The cat responded by leaping forward and trying to sink its small hooked claws into his nose.

Letting out a small noise that was something close to a laugh, Hiccup lifted his hands and picked up the cat, putting it back a few feet. "Well…" He eyed the thing, not sure what to do now. "I guess I'll be back later. You…stay here and do…whatever cats do." And with that he pushed himself up and headed for the door. As soon as he put his hand on the doorknob though, he jumped ten feet into the air as the cat let out a loud yowl of anguish that made his eardrums ring.

Spinning around, he looked back at the cat with wide eyes. The kitten blinked, closing her mouth with a snap as it looked at him innocently. It was quiet in the room again, and Hiccup could only stare at the kitten awkwardly, in which it returned the stare steadily. "…Okay then." He mumbled, turning back around.

As soon as his back was to it, the cat let out another loud scream, throwing its head back as it did so. Hiccup whirled around, but the cat still didn't stop. It howled and cried without pausing for a breath. Stumbling forward, Hiccup dashed forward, rushing back to his bed as he looked down with something close to amazement at the kitten. It still didn't stop, and he reached forward shakily to pet it.

At once, it purred, it's howling cries dropping down low to a gentle noise as it rubbed against Hiccup's hand lovingly. The boy deadpanned down at the thing, biting his lower lip as he looked at it decisively. "Well…" He glanced over at the door. "You can't come with me. I don't want to be holding you all day. You'll get lost in the snow." He eyed the silver fluff that the kitten was surrounded with as he spoke.

Eyes blinking open, the cat turned and sank its claws into Hiccup's arm. The boy let out a gasp of pain, but the cat paid no attention. Hiccup closed his mouth as the cat started to hoist itself onto his arm, clawing up his length carefully. The claws made pinpricks of pain lance up his arm, but he was too busy looking with confusion at the cat as it kept on climbing bravely. "What are you doing?" He asked, as if the cat could reply to him.

Finally, it reached his shoulder. Reaching up with both paws, the cat hoisted itself up fully, small enough to fit comfortably on his shoulder with more space for when it grew. Purring loudly in his ear, the cat perched neatly on the boy's shoulder, eyes shining with triumph as it rubbed its head across Hiccup's cheek.

"…Okay." Hiccup said, glancing at the cat out of the corner of his eye. "I guess that's fine. At least you wont get lost." And you wont wake up half the village, he added to himself. But he had to admit, the cat was something of a thinker. Now it could stick with him without having to trudge through the snow. He couldn't say that much for him, of course.

"Hiccup?" The boy turned as his door opened slowly, creaking somewhat as a head stuck through the opening. Astrid blinked, eyes narrowing as she stepped inside the boy's room without even bothering to ask whether or not she could. "I was going to go riding with Stormfly, but I heard this awful noise coming from your house! What's going on?"

"Oh. Nothing, Astrid. It's fine." Hiccup said, the cat blinking owlishly at the newcomer.

Astrid seemed to have just spotted the cat, and she let out a small gasp. Her eyes sparkled as they grew to the size of dinner plates, and she rushed forward, Hiccup letting out a small grumble as she snatched the kitten off of his shoulder. Holding the cat up, Astrid let out a small coo, smiling widely as she looked at every inch of the thing. "What is this?" She shrieked. "Oh my goodness! This is the cutest thing I have EVER seen before!"

Hiccup blinked, eyes wide as he looked at Astrid like she had grown a second head. He had never seen this side of Astrid before, and to tell the truth…it sort of disturbed him. He didn't think that Astrid's voice could go so high, or get sing-songy as though she was talking to an infant. "My dad gave it to me last night." Hiccup explained, shaking himself before speaking. "He thinks that it will help me get over Toothless being gone." Despite himself, a bitter tone crept into his voice as he said the last words.

Astrid lowered the cat somewhat, pulling the scrap closer to her to hold it against her chest. Her eyes slowly narrowed, and Hiccup braced himself for a rant that he should let Toothless go. But her words took him by surprise. "It?" She asked sharply, glaring daggers at Hiccup. "It? Why are you say It? Doesn't this cute face have a name?" She turned the cat around so that it faced Hiccup, the small thing raising its innocent eyes up to Hiccup.

The boy shrugged, turning away from the cat and looking with narrowed eyes at the empty spot where Toothless used to stay. "I don't know whether or not it's a boy or a girl." He said without looking over at her. "My dad didn't tell me, he only told me that it came from Bertha down by the end of the village."

Astrid was quiet for a few heartbeats. The girl lowered her eyes once more and gave a small smile to the cat. "Well then, let's go down to Bertha and ask!" She said happily. In response, Hiccup threw her a sour look. Shoulders slumping, Astrid paced forward until she stood beside her friend. The two looked at the empty corner silently, Astrid still clutching the cat in her hands as the feline gave an impatient wriggle.

"Listen." She said, leaning forward to look at Hiccup. "I know how much Toothless meant to you. And in spite of what happened before, I know how much you meant to him. But he's gone now, Hiccup. You have to go back to your life now."

"He was my life." Hiccup said, words coming out in just a mumble.

"Then let's start new." Astrid offered with a small smile. She reached up and placed the cat back on Hiccup's shoulder. Immediately, the kitten purred, snuggling against the fabric of Hiccup's tunic to get more comfortable. Going forward a little bit, Astrid planted a small kiss on Hiccup's cheek in turn, giving him a small smile as she pulled back. "Come on. You have to give the kitten a chance."

Heaving a small sigh, Hiccup glanced over one last time at Toothless's old spot before giving a small nod at the girl. Gripping his hand tightly, Astrid turned and led the way downstairs and outside into the cold air. The kitten immediately let out a squeak as the wind buffeted its fluffy coat, sinking the tiny claws into Hiccup's shoulder to secure its perch.

Outside, dragons and children both flashed past, giggles and cheers coming from toddlers and younger kids as they galloped through the snow. The sun had risen up to the sky, and Astrid supposed that it had to be somewhere around nine in the morning. Some adults were going about with their business, but most people had taken to standing around and talking. Not many people did things on Friday, it was mostly a calm day that you took to yourself. Since the teenagers already did that everyday, it wasn't much of a difference.

Bertha's house was at the end, a rather short walk from Hiccup's house considering that the chief's house was sort of in the middle of the homes. The snow made it more difficult than it needed to be though, slowing both Astrid and Hiccup down as they made their way to Bertha. Dimly, Astrid wondered whether or not Hiccup's prosthetic was hurting him anymore like it used to. When she looked back at the boy, she blinked slowly as she realized that he had a small grimace on his face.

Deciding not to say anything that might offend him, Astrid looked forward once more. "There it is, I think!" Astrid said, her words accompanied by a curl of mist. "There's Bertha's house, right?" When Hiccup didn't reply, she looked back to see that he was concentrating on trying to keep the kitten upright on his shoulder. The small thing was staying up stubbornly, braced against the swirling wind as its tail waved in the wind behind it. Astrid's mouth twitched, and she gave him a small smile before turning back.

The house rose up in front of them, and before long, they both stood in front of the door, Astrid reaching forward and knocking loudly on the door. Even before Astrid could pull back, the door opened wide to reveal a large, pudgy woman looking down at her. Leaning over to look at Astrid more closely, Bertha smiled widely. "Well, hello there!" She said fondly. "What can I do for you?"

Astrid smiled pleasantly at the older woman. "We're sorry to bug you." She said warmly, Hiccup stepped up to stand beside her. "But Hiccup's father got one of your kittens yesterday, and we were wondering what gender it was. Hiccup wont stop calling it an It, and I want to name…it."

Hiccup threw her a look at the last word.

Bertha's eyes narrowed somewhat, and she leaned forward to look at the kitten perched on Hiccup's shoulder. She smiled largely as she spoke warmly. "This one I remember!" She cooed, reaching forward and petting the small thing's head. Hiccup had to crane his head to the side so she wouldn't be petting him too. "This little beauty was one of my favorites among the litter. Most of the kittens are still here with their mother, I have yet to find any homes for them. I was pretty sad to see her go."

"Her?" Astrid said, a smile spreading over her face quickly. "So it's a girl?"

"Oh, yes. The prettiest little girl you will ever come to meet! Now, if that's all you two kids need, I have to go and talk to Gobber about something down at the forge. I need my sword to be sharpened…shouldn't you be down there too, Hiccup?"

"Uh- no. He gives me the day off on Fridays." Hiccup said, reaching up and scratching the cat's head. She let out a strong purr as he did so, settling down more comfortably on his shoulder. Hiccup eyed it as it did so, but didn't say anything. He just petted to fluffy cat and Astrid looked at the Maine Coon thoughtfully. Realizing that they weren't going to leave before her, Bertha gave them a small nod before starting down the stairs of her porch, leaving the two alone together.

Astrid leaned over and scooped up the cat, holding it out in front of her. "Now what should we call you, little lady?" She crooned, giving the small cat a smile. "How about…Airtimes? Or maybe Snow? Oh! I know! How about Silver!"

"Silver?" Hiccup repeated after her, looking at her oddly. "That's a dumb name for a cat. It's simple, it's not unique." Astrid blinked, looking over at him as he spoke. She cocked an eyebrow warningly, but didn't say anything as he went on. "Names can't be random, they have to be unique for someone."

"I'm surprised." Astrid said fairly. "I thought you didn't like IT."

Hiccup didn't reply, reaching over and grabbing the cat back. You'd think that the small scrap would be frazzled by being grabbed around so much, but all it did was purr loudly. For a second, Hiccup wondered if he had to worry about it having mental issues or something. Plopping her back down on his shoulder, he looked decisively at Astrid for a moment or two before he finally spoke. "Ludi." He said firmly. ( A/N: Pronounced: LOO-DYE)

Astrid blinked. "What?"

"Ludi. That's It- HER name." Hiccup repeated.

The kitten mewled happily at that, eyes closing cutely as she did so. Astrid looked at him with a smile. "So now what?" She asked.

Hiccup paused, staring at her blankly. The cat meowed from his shoulder, catching his attention as he looked down at it. "…I guess that we might as well get a collar on Ludi before she runs off. If I have to." He turned on his heel and marched away.

Astrid giggled under her breath as she followed him.

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A/N: This was a fluffy chapter I wanted to throw in there ^^

I hope you like! R & R! :D


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: WOOT! THE WEEKEND IS FINALLY HERE! :D

I have a whole…plan on what to do, it might just take a few more chapters to get there fully. Every chapter means something, and I know where I'm going, you all just…sit back and let me do the thinking, alright? X3

A Toothless and Hiccup reunion is…coming up…in a few chapters I think? But the reunion will be something sort of bittersweet, if you will.

Just finished my math homework, so I have some creativity to burn out right here…hope you enjoy~! Francesva Hiccup says that he wants to go to the mall with you tomorrow to see the Muppets and Santa Clause. Have fun with that. Maybe you'll see me there, those are my plans tomorrow~

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"So what do you want to do now? You want to go flying? You want to go hunting? You want to just sit here and talk? It's been a few days since I showed you around the tunnel, we could play hide-and-seek! That would be really hard! Do you remember when we used to play hide-and-seek? You always beat me at it! Let's see if I could win this time!" Nightflight bounced around Toothless excitedly, eyes sparkling as she looked at him teasingly.

Toothless blinked, looking over at her for a moment or two before blinking rapidly. "What?" He asked, Nightflight leaning back to roll her eyes at him. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Say it again?"

"Toothless, it's almost nighttime! We've been on our feet all day working and hunting! I want to do something fun! Let's go take a walk around the tunnel or something. Or do you want to do something else?" Her ear flicked as she added the last part, head tilting to the side. Toothless straightened, looking around the cavern that they sat in decisively.

His eyes landed on the one tunnel that sloped down, and the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. "I want to go to the nursery." He declared, looking over at her. Nightflight looked somewhat confused as she stared back at him, but then she recovered. She shrugged, as if she was at a loss of anything else to do.

"Sure!" She chirped, getting to her feet. "But- why?"

For a moment, Toothless had forgotten himself why he wanted to go to such a place. Realization crashed back into him, and his thoughts flashed back to the small Night Fury from before. The image of the small thing stuck in his mind all day, along with the flash of green eyes that weren't those of a dragon. It had worried and prodded him for the longest time, and he was sure that if he saw the small youngling one more time, it might help jog his memory somewhat. "I wanted to see…Shadowclaw." The name almost slipped his mind.

Nightflight started at the familiar name. "I know him!" She said happily. "Isn't he so adorable? I just want him as my own! When did you meet him?"

"Oh, a few days ago." Toothless said nonchalantly, mind not really on Nightflight as he started for the passageway in front of them. "When you left to see if I could make it out of the caves. Actually, Nightflight, maybe you can help me." The female glanced over at him as he spoke, ears flicking back and forth to show she was listening. "Shadowclaw reminds me…SO much of somebody. I can't remember who though, and it's really starting to bug me. I think it's the way he talks so much, and the fact that he's so small. And his eyes…it's weird, whenever I look at his eyes I feel odd."

Nightflight's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at him. Toothless gave her an odd look, stopping in his tracks as he looked at her. "What?" He asked. Nightflight rounded over to stand in front of him, her impassive stare seeming to bore into him. But Toothless's hackles rose. "What?" He repeated, louder this time. "All I did was ask you a question, what's your problem?"

Nightflight opened her mouth to say something, but a loud yell from deeper into the passage echoed over to the two, making them turn around. "Toothless!" The Night Fury spotted the small youngling as it dashed forward, his mother eyeing him where she sat back in her den. Others of the baby Night Furies poked their heads out of their nests, but made no move to follow Shadowclaw. The young child skidded to a stop in front of him, lifting those startlingly familiar green eyes up to Toothless's own. "…Hi! I didn't think you would come back! …You are here to see me…right?"

Toothless was too busy staring at the small thing with slightly narrowed eyes, racking his brain over and over for something or someone that would be looking the same as him. He obviously had a weird look on his face, for Shadowclaw's ears slowly started to flatten against his head. Nightflight broke in, starting him out of his thoughts as she shoved him in the side, nearly sending him sprawling onto the ground. "Uh- yeah!" He said a little too loud. "Yeah, both me and Nightflight wanted to see you."

"Really?" He chirped, giving a wriggle of happiness. "That's great! Nightflight, I was meaning to tell you this really cool story! But I couldn't find you, so let me try and remember it." He paused for a moment before he jumped, waving his tail triumphantly in the air. "Oh yeah! There was this really big piece of food, you see? And my older brother tried to take it from me! So I-"

"Uh-huh." Nightflight mumbled, looking over at Toothless out of the corner of her eyes. The Night Fury's ears were flattened to his head and he was still looking at the small youngling thoughtfully. Her thoughts raced a mile a minute as she looked back at Shadowclaw, who was still talking. He didn't look like that insolent twig that they had escaped from! Okay…maybe his eyes were a little like the thing's, but that was it! The thing was a human, not a dragon!

And yet Toothless was thinking of the human. Nightflight shuffled her weight from foot to foot nervously, wings trembling by her sides. This couldn't happen now, she had to try and get a look at him again. It couldn't happen, the dragon was just starting to get comfortable here! He had just settled in, and knew the land on the outside of the tunnels! He might leave before he could really give this place a chance.

She couldn't loose him again. The thought made her stiffen, eyes widening to be the size of rocks. It was terrible without him here with her, it felt as if there was an emptiness where he had been before. She couldn't loose him again, she had to make him stay here. She was sure that his family would be devastated too, if he left. Everybody would miss him. All over again.

She had to do something fast. Something to make him-

"What's this?" The small voice of Shadowclaw made her snap back to reality. Blinking rapidly, Nightflight looked down to where the small dragon was crouched. Green eyes filled with curiosity, Shadowclaw reached out and prodded something on Toothless's tailfin. "What's this?" He asked, looking up at Toothless, puzzled. "It's yellow. And it's sharp! What is it?"

"It's what I use to move my tailfin." Toothless explained, having to crane his neck to look back at Shadowclaw to see what he was doing. Shadowclaw blinked, straightening to a sitting position and sweeping his tail forward to look down, the puzzled look frozen on his face. "But…I don't have one on MY tail." He said, looking somewhat crestfallen.

Toothless leaned over to examine the youngling's tail, eyes widening as he saw the lack of the golden object that was on his tail. Whirling around, he looked down at Nightflight's, but it wasn't there either. "What…?" He breathed, looking lost as he eyed the golden thing. "Then what is this?" He asked, reaching over and prodding it harshly. It didn't budge. If it wasn't a part of his tail, it was stuck on pretty good. "Why wont it get off?"

"I'll help!" Shadowclaw purred, pouncing forward and landing squarely on the black fin. It felt odd under paw, it didn't feel scaly like regular dragon skin. "It feels smooth!" He gasped, sliding his front paw back and forth across the surface of the strange thing. "This is so weird!" He flopped down on the tailfin, small enough to do so as he started to nuzzle it playfully. "It feels good!"

Nightflight let out a chuff of laughter, but Toothless deadpanned down at the small dragon. "Can you try and get it off?" He asked rather impatiently. "If you all don't need it, why is it on so tight?" Obviously Shadowclaw didn't have an answer, so he looked up expectantly to Nightflight, meting her gaze with a glare. She blinked, giving him a small, aimless shrug.

Shadowclaw giggled where he sat, "HA!" Toothless looked back down at him, feeling slightly dizzy from looking back and forth so much. "There's a funny mark on it, too! It's weird, it doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before! Do you know what it is, Toothless?"

Bending over to the side, Toothless put his head by Shadowclaw's with difficulty. The small dragon was looking intently at something near Toothless's actual tail, and it took the Night Fury a few moments to finally spot it. It looked like a small gray smudge. Shadowclaw was right, it didn't look like anything that any dragon might have ever seen before.

"Now what is THIS on my tail?" Toothless nearly roared, loosing patience by now. "What makes my tail so different than all of the other tails of the Night Furies? Nobody has mentioned it before to me, why is that? I've been here for more than a week! Is it not noticeable?"

Nightflight slunk forward to copy the movements of Toothless, looking down intently at the tail. "It's barley noticeable." She said dismissively. "Although…it is a little weird." She sounded as though she were choosing her words with care. The thought made Toothless shoot a glance at her from the corner of his eye. "I wonder what it is. Will it come off?"

Before Toothless could see, Shadowclaw tilted his head to the side, reaching out one of his front paws and pressing it against the odd mark, trying to rub it off. Toothless stiffened at the movement, eyes widening as he looked with astonishment at Shadowclaw. The smaller dragon sighed, coming back and looking back at Nightflight. "Nope. Still there." He said affirmatively.

"Shadowclaw! It's close to bedtime!" His mother called. "Come back into your nest and thank Toothless and Nightflight for playing with you!" Shadowclaw groaned loudly and dramatically at his mother. But he turned around and touched Nightflight's nose with his own in an affectionate gesture before turning back to Toothless, ready to do the same. But he stopped as he looked at the dragon's expression oddly.

Toothless's mind was fuzzy, there was a wall there where he felt like memories should be. Memories that have been trying to resurface for more than he had thought. In Shadowclaw's small, innocent gesture, something finally wriggled its way into Toothless's mind finally. One small thing that came right beside the image of the odd green eyes. A voice that seemed like it should have rang a bell to him.

A shout of his name, bright and clear like it was shouted now. The voice was slightly higher-pitched compared to his, and the tone suggested something of adoration or even…affection. "Toothless!" The dragon jerked as he heard the telltale shout, Nightflight looking at him with concern in her eyes. She had no idea what Toothless was hearing, hearing inside of his head. It might have caused somebody to wonder about their mental standards, but all Toothless could wonder about was who the mysterious voice belonged to.

Nightflight shook herself, looking down at Shadowclaw with warm eyes. "Off to bed, little one." She purred, leaning down and nudging the small thing back to his mother. "We'll come visit you again sometime, alright?" Shadowclaw let out a joyful coo at this, stumbling over his paws as he raced back to his nest. Nightflight looked after him for a moment or two before she turned to look at Toothless carefully. "You alright?" She asked, subdued to once.

Toothless blinked rapidly, looking down at the stone floor of the cave. Suddenly, the world seemed to be spinning around him. The walls of the cave pressing down on him, cutting off his air as he struggled to breath. "I have to go get some air." He choked out, spinning around and dashing for the exit of the cave.

He knew the tunnels by heart by now, and burst into the cold night air before he even knew it. Huffing and gasping for air, Toothless leaned against the outer wall of the cave, trying to push the confusion and worry away from him before it got to him too much. Footsteps behind him told him that Nightflight had followed him out. The female stared at the dragon worriedly, a lump in her throat as she tried to find what to say.

"I want to be alone right now." Toothless whispered, being the first to speak.

"…Maybe you need me to talk to-"

"No." Toothless squared his shoulders. "I want to be alone."

Nightflight paused for a moment before she spoke, almost involuntarily. "I don't want you to shut me out." She said clearly. Toothless started at her words, turning to look at her carefully. Those words felt like they should ring a bell too, but he was too busy looking at Nightflight to realize that. "I can't be without you, Toothless. When you were gone for so long before, I didn't think that I could make it through without you. That's why I left. I figured that I should go out and try to find my own way in life, like you always used to say when we were small like Shadowclaw. It was a miracle that I found you, and please don't leave, because you just got used to this place again. If you leave, I wont be able to go on. You're my BEST FRIEND, Toothless. And…maybe….more than that."

Toothless stared at her blankly.

Her voice cracked as she said weakly. "I love you, Toothless. I always have."

Silence followed her words, and Toothless and her could only stare at one another, waiting for the other to speak. Nightflight looked about ready to turn back around, when Toothless spoke, his words just as quiet. "Maybe I feel the same way." He blurted out. Maybe was the key word. His thoughts and emotions were so messed up by now, he couldn't tell which was love and which was hate. But the way Nightflight looked at him and caught him in her memorizing stare so that he couldn't look away must mean something.

And maybe the flash of green eyes…were her eyes. Just maybe. Who else could it be?

Nightflight let out a gasp, darting forward and burying her face into his chest, a purr coming from her throat as loud as thunder. Toothless shifted, blinking as he looked up at the starry night sky above them. Hopefully he hadn't just made a big mistake.

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A/N: Sorry I have to cut this short, I have to watch my little sister!

I hope you liked a lot, and I hope you R & R! ^^


	11. Chapter 11

Ludi had turned into a handful in a few short days, just like Hiccup had predicted. The small kitten that had prodded him and mewled for him was now long gone. This kitten had an abundance of energy, and could hardly sit still for more than five seconds. Hiccup was on his toes dashing after her, tripping and stumbling as she knocked over a vase or something else breakable. Believe it or not, Hiccup was starting to miss the annoying little scrap from before, right now she had turned into something close to a Terrible Terror.

Although she didn't loose any of her cuteness. In fact, Hiccup thought that she had gained some. Which in turn meant that whenever she broke something important, she would just look up at Hiccup with those big amber eyes and wait for the boy to take the blame for her. She was too much of a thinker, no matter how young she was. And Hiccup couldn't be mad at her for more than a minute, nobody could, thanks to what Hiccup named her: "Cuteness meter stare."

Nobody could resist her, and she had grown quite a reputation amongst the villagers. Hiccup couldn't go through the village without having a glance stolen his way, Ludi still having her regular perch on his shoulder. He knew what they were thinking about, though he tried not to focus too much on it. They were talking about Toothless of course, doubting whether or not the dragon would ever come back, and how long until Hiccup got a dragon.

Never. That was when. It was all Hiccup could do to show any affection to Ludi, he would never show anything to any other dragon. Ever again. Toothless was always going to be his dragon, no matter what happened before, and no matter whether or not he came back. He'd come back one day, and Hiccup would be there waiting. He'd be waiting with a smile on his face and no other dragon there to stand by him.

Which was why he was standing there, watching his friends with a somewhat empty expression. Ludi squeaked where she sat on his shoulder, fidgeting at the lack of movement. She was trying her hardest to keep still, and Hiccup had to acknowledge that fact. He reached up and petted her between the ears without taking his gaze away from his friends.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were both on their Zippleback, Snotlout on Hookfang, and Fishlegs on Meatlug. They were all waiting with expected looks trained on Astrid. The girl was staring back at Hiccup, Stormfly cooing with excitement behind her. "I don't want you to feel left-out…" She tried, wincing slightly as she spoke.

Hiccup shook his head once, giving her a weak smile. "I'll be okay." He promised. "I have stuff to do at the forge, and with Ludi there too, it'll take longer than it needs to be. I'm fine here, really. You go on ahead."

"You sure?" Astrid asked, already clambering onto the back of her Nadder. "I mean- I could hang back with you, I don't care. I can help you work if you want me to." Hiccup clasped his hands behind his back and shook his head again. Astrid hesitated for a moment before giving him a small smile. "I'll see you later, then, Hiccup!" She said, turning and giving Stormfly a pat on her neck. "Let's go!" She cheered, her dragon pushing off the ground at the sound of her voice.

The others followed suit, wings spreading out as they shot into the air, seemingly at the speed of light. Hiccup looked after them sadly, feeling the familiar tug on his heart as he did so. Ludi meowed loudly, pressing her head into Hiccup's neck comfortably. Despite himself, Hiccup smiled crookedly at the cat, turning and heading back to the forge as he scratched her ear absent-mindedly. "It'll be fine." He said thickly. "You really shouldn't worry to much."

Ludi rolled her eyes and she settled back down more comfortably on Hiccup's shoulder. Her fluffy fur kept her warm during the winter, much unlike Hiccup, who was freezing. He pulled his vest tighter around himself, trying to conceal what was left of his body heat. But that was difficult, considering that he left like his nose had already gained itself frostbite.

The Blacksmith's shop was a little warmer than outside, the small fire used for heating metal served a little warmth in his direction as Hiccup entered. Gobber was already there, eyeing him as he came in. "You're late." He grunted, looking at the boy critically. "What's your excuse this time then?" Hiccup always had a talent with making excuses.

"Nothing." Hiccup mumbled tiredly, shuffling his way over to his work table.

Gobber paused in his work, looking over at Hiccup as though he had just sprouted wings from his back. "What?" He asked, slightly dumbfounded. "You don't have anything? Nothin' at all?"

"Nope." Hiccup sighed. Ludi sprang off of Hiccup's shoulder, landing gracefully on Hiccup's table and giving the wood a small poke of curiosity. Her tail was straight up in the air as she walked forward, giving mrrow of happiness as she felt the warmth of the fire that was close by. Fluffing out her slightly-dampened fur, she settled down carefully, wrapping her tail neatly around herself as she lied down on the table.

"So what do I need to do today?" He asked, turning to look at Gobber blankly. The smithy looked a little caught off-guard without the bubbly attitude that his apprentice usually showed to him. It was like he was lost for words as he stared at Hiccup, and it was very hard to make Gobber loose his words. He was so full of them most of the time.

"Uh- right." Gobber said quickly, recovering a little as he straightened. "I finished sharpening Bertha's sword, you might as well make a delivery back to her house." He turned to a large self where the finished or for sale swords hung, ready to be taken down. He picked up a large, elegant one and turned back to Hiccup, handing it down to the small boy, who buckled somewhat under its weight. "Come back when you're done, alright? I got a few more things you need to take back to their owners."

"Why can't people just take their own stuff themselves?" Hiccup grumbled, turning and making for the exit. Gobber watched with a raised eyebrow, his apprentice never resented his work, even when Gobber gave him the hardest work on purpose. Ludi perked up where she lay, scrambling to her feet and jumping forward, landing on Hiccup's shoulder and clinging on tightly as she tried to regain her balance.

So his idea wasn't working? Hiccup seemed to be fond of the cat, Ludi went everywhere with him, and Gobber caught sight of the boy smiling affectionately at the cat while he played her on more than one occasion. But it wasn't enough, he guessed. He watched his apprentice go with a sad glint in his eye, hesitating for a moment before turning back down to his work.

Outside, snow was starting to come down heavily on Hiccup as he waded through the white mess. Shivering, Hiccup tried to help Ludi stay upright, the kitten bring jarred by his shivers. She let out a squeak of defiance, batting his hand away as she tried to do it herself stubbornly. Letting his hand drop back down to his side with a slap, Hiccup dragged the newly-sharpened sword through the snow, making a large indent line as he went along.

Hiccup looked up into the sky to see four dark smudges flying in the air, the things surely having to be his friends. He let out a heavy sigh, bangs fluttering as he did so. "It's not fair." He grumbled to himself, Ludi blinking as he started to speak. For once, anger boiled underneath Hiccup's skin, the first time since Toothless left to finally be angry at the dragon. Which was something he never did. He never got mad at Toothless. They were friends.

Reaching up, Hiccup felt the center of his chest, where the large gash from the female Night Fury had just healed. "We were friends." He said aloud, glaring at the ground as he continued to walk. He stopped, looking over at the frozen sea that was to his right. Pausing for a moment, Hiccup veered off towards the expanse of white, keeping on until he had a clear view of it.

He stared intently the at the frozen water, face blank as he became quiet. Ludi seemed confused by the turn of events, glancing back at the village of Berk with a flick of her ears. Hiccup paid no mind to the cat, not even glancing over at her as seconds stretched by. Finally, he broke the silence, speaking under his breath. "You could have just kept the tail in the first place." He rasped. Ludi blinked, leaning over precariously to try and look at him.

Gripping the sword's hilt tightly, Hiccup's knuckles turned white and the anger that he felt before burned in his chest. "You could have just kept the tail!" He repeated, louder this time. Ludi shrank back immediately, drawing her tail tighter around herself. "Instead of making me think that you really wanted to stay here with me! Why did you destroy the tail if you wanted off this Odin-Forsaken place?" His eyes narrowed as he looked over the horizon, and Ludi followed his gaze, expecting to see something there, but there was nothing.

Hiccup was breathing heavily, and he kept still for a few more minutes before he spun around wildly, Ludi nearly falling off his shoulder as he did so. The boy made quick work in getting to Bertha's house, arriving at her doorstep in less than a few minutes. He knocked on the door, drawing back as he looked at the ground.

Bertha opened the door, a large grin on her face as she spotted Ludi. "Why, hello there, little one!" she boomed, reaching over and stroking the kitten's head lovingly. "I've been meaning to come and see you for the longest time. I guess didn't want to intrude on the two of you." She gave a wink to the small thing before turning to Hiccup. "Oh! There's my sword! I've been wondering where that had gotten off to."

"Yeah. We also polished it for you, so that it looks brand-new." Hiccup said, almost robotically. "And we also…" The old speech he had learned by heart came out of his mouth blandly, and his mind wandered. Where was Toothless? Why did he leave? What did Hiccup do, if it indeed was something he did to set off the dragon. He had no idea, and the thought nearly broke his heart. Had he been the one to drive his friend away?

Before too long, he stopped in the middle of his words, blinking as he looked down at the wood of the porch. Bertha seemed out of place, looking at Hiccup, curious as to why he had suddenly stopped. Swallowing, she patted the boy on the head, jarring him out of his thoughts. "Well, then, I'd better be going." She said brightly, taking the sword back gingerly. "Do give my thanks to Gobber for me, dear."

"…Sure." Hiccup said, giving her an awkward smile.

Bertha returned the gesture and gave one last pat on Ludi's head before she turned and closed the door on Hiccup.

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Resting his chin on his desk, Hiccup looked glumly out his bedroom window. Night had risen without so much as a warning to him, and moon shed its cold light through the pane-glass window. Something downstairs moved, and Hiccup supposed that his father had finally returned home. He had been alone for forever.

Except for Ludi of course. The cat had been flying around his room like there was no tomorrow, squealing with happiness and making a large racket. Hiccup was throwing a small stuffed mouse around the room for Judi to get, and so far, she had gotten the hang of the game fetch. It was surprisingly entertaining to watch the ball of fluff dart from one end of his room to the other.

"You know," He said, lifting his head from the desk as she trotted back, proudly displaying the small toy in her mouth. "I think you know why you're here. To keep me sane or something like that." He gave her a small smile as she merely dropped the damp mouse at Hiccup's feet. Though she was barley bigger than a Terrible Terror, she was growing surprisingly fast. And while she was growing fast, she was getting faster. She could easily outrun a rabbit or a dog. As if to prove his point, Hiccup threw the mouse over to the other end of the room, and watched as she shot off like a rocket to retrieve it.

How odd, it must have seemed to her. If she was actually thinking about it that is. To bring something to him just to have it thrown back once more. Hiccup put his elbow on his desk and held his head in on the palm of his hand. He guessed that was why people should envy animals more often. They were carefree, they had nothing they needed to worry about because they never actually stopped to think about things.

Which was something Hiccup yearned for right now. He dropped his hand and turned his gaze back on his desk. Scattered papers lied on the surface, and he felt the familiar pang in his chest. They were all of Toothless, and if not a drawing of the dragon, they were new things for him. Diagrams for his new tail, construction of a better saddle. Hours and days of thoughts and work scribbled down on these papers with nothing to show for it. Not anymore.

He jumped nearly out of his skin as Ludi hopped up onto the table. She sat down on the papers without a second thought, dropping the wet mouse down right on the diagram for the new tail that Hiccup made. "Alright, alright." Hiccup said, reaching over and trying to prod her away. "Come on, let's go downstairs or something. I'm tired of being in here."

Ludi let out a small hiss, crouching down and pouncing on his hand, mini claws sinking into the skin. Flinching with pain, Hiccup shoved her away. "Stop it, Ludi!" He snapped angrily, the cat looking put-out for a few heartbeats. But then her ears shot straight up, and her gaze shot down to one of the papers.

A small moth was fluttering across Hiccup's desktop, he bug finally catching Hiccup's attention as he followed Ludi's gaze. Eyes widening, Hiccup opened his mouth, "Ludi, NO!" But it was too late. Ludi leaped forward onto the small winged insect, grabbing it tightly in her claws. Tearing at the bug, her claws ripped through its wings and onto the papers underneath. Before Hiccup could even think of stopping her, the papers underneath her tears underneath the thorn-sharp claws.

Finding it far more interesting than that of the bug, she started to pounce on the papers, ripping and tearing each one until they were small scraps that slowly got all over the room. Hiccup watched, horrified as she attacked each and every one, not leaving one paper unscathed. Finally, every bit of the papers were torn to shreds. Looking up with the familiar "Cuteness Meter" stare, she looked very pleased with herself as she held her tail high.

It was silent for a moment before Hiccup narrowed his eyes, shooting to his feet and glaring down at her. Ludi immediately shrank back, eyes going wide as she wrapped her tail tighter around herself. Her familiar way of showing that she was afraid. But Hiccup didn't care. "What did you do!" He yelled as loud as he could, sure that even his father could hear him downstairs. "Ludi, you ruined everything!"

Ludi let out a pitiful mew where she crouched. Hiccup scooped up handfuls of the tattered paper, fuming as he glared at her. "Look at this!" He screamed, dropping the scraps and letting them fall to the ground. "Bad cat! VERY BAD CAT. You NEVER do this, those were all I had left!"

His door opened, and Stoick looked into the room. "Hiccup, what is going on here?" He demanded, looking at his son through narrowed eyes. He had never heard his son yell this loudly, it was almost unheard of. It was unheard of. "Why are you yelling?"

"This stupid cat!" Hiccup shouted, whirling around to look at his dad. He pointed an accusing finger down at the kitten, who's tail had fluffed up to be twice its normal size. "I don't want it! I never wanted it! It ruined all of my drawings, and I want it out of here! Get out!" He looked down at the cat, and jabbed his finger out the door. "Get out of my room! NOW!"

Ears flattened to her head, Ludi looked up at Hiccup for a moment or two, not moving. When it looked like Hiccup was getting even more mad, she sprang off of the desk and fled out of the boy's room and down the stairs before Stoick even felt her go by. "Hiccup." He said sternly, glaring at his son after the cat left. "It's just one mistake. You can't get so worked up over it."

Hiccup held his gaze for a moment or two before turning and lying down on his bed. Drawing his knees up to his chest. "I want you out too." He said quietly. All anger had left his voice, making him sound defeated and tired. "Please."

Stoick stared at his son blankly, not knowing at all what to do. At a loss for anything else, he figured he'd better go find that cat before it went off who-knows-where. Turning to the side, he blew out the candle on the wall silently, turning and heading back downstairs. Hiccup listened to the sound of the door closing, and the room went pitch-dark around him.

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A/N: SO, I am going to the mall to see the Muppets! It will be fun!

I hope you liked this chapter! Isn't is so fluffy? :D

Sad kitteh is sad ;^:


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: SURPRISE CHAPTER! Who's it for? You'll have to find out. :B

I update daily everyday, and I think I'll stay like that, it's a really good pace for me ever since I lengthened my chapters. If you go back and look at my first ever fanfiction, you'll see that the chapters are really short. And when they were short, I update twice or three times. But since I made them longer, I do it daily ;)

My friend came over yesterday, and we were watching Spongebob. And it was that one episode where he thinks he's a star because of that Krusty Krab commercial you know? And I started laughing SO hard because of the part where that guy asks for the napkin? Here's how I saw it, of course:

Toothless: Hey, you! Can I have a napkin, please?

Hiccup: Sure! Though, next time, please come up and ask me. It must be so degrading to ask from across the room. *derp face* ALRIGHT. *takes out a napkin and a pen* Who am I making this bad boy out to? :D

Toothless: -.- TO MY TAILFIN.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You all love me ;^;

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A blast of cold wind met her as she exploded out of the door, skidding and stumbling as she landed into a large bank of snow. Spluttering, Ludi wriggled out of the mass of white snow, shaking out her fur and causing white snowflakes to shower around her. Tail drooping down to the ground, Ludi lifted her head to look up at the window that was Hiccup's room. It was dark now, he turned the light off.

Ears flattening to her head, Ludi let out a small whimper, turning and looking over across the village. The square was empty except for the softly falling snow, white against black. Casting one look back at Hiccup's house, Ludi started to pick her way through the deep snow, tongue slightly sticking out as she went. Her small paws sank into the white drifts easily, causing it to be much more difficult than it had to be.

She didn't know where she was going, but she was pretty sure that she wouldn't stay there. Although, going back to Hiccup looked like it would be a hard thing to do. She still didn't see why he was mad at her, they had been playing together one moment, and then the next he was shouting at her. Hiccup never scolded her, not even when she knocked that plate down a few days ago. She just hadn't expected it.

The cat let out a small sigh, quickening her pace as the house fell farther and farther behind her. Maybe he would be better tomorrow, maybe he would get over it. The thoughts did little to help her though, tomorrow was a long way away. And she was already colder than normal. Usually she had Hiccup to brace the wind away from her when they went around the village.

She could go back to the house, but the bigger person that stayed there frightened her somewhat. He wasn't gentle with her like Hiccup was. When he picked her up on occasion, he always did it with one careless hand. It was uncomfortable, and he more or less smacked her when he tried to pet her. No, she didn't feel like being slapped right now. Her heart weighed more than it usually did in her chest, making it ache.

She felt like this was her fault, the way that sometimes Hiccup's smile faltered for a strange reason as he looked at her. The way he got quiet in his sentences, reaching up and petting her as he did so. She didn't think that she did anything wrong, but she also didn't think she did anything wrong before when she tore up those papers. But apparently they were important to Hiccup, she didn't think before doing that. She didn't think she needed to.

A noise behind her made her stiffen, turning around and perking her ears. "Hello?" She asked, eyes darting from side to side as she spun around. Tail lashing through the air, she started as a shape took place amid the snowflakes, getting closer and closer to her as she took a hesitant step. She faltered for a moment, tilting her head to the side as she realized that the shape wasn't that big. Bigger than her, of course, but it was still small.

She came into view, and Ludi's eyes widened with realization. The cat was a large, smoky-gray with gleaming yellow eyes. She was so familiar, and Ludi's face broke into a smile as the she-cat came to a stop in front of her. "Hello, daughter." She said, concern showing in her yellow depths as she saw the state of the kitten. "What are you doing out here? Where's Hiccup?"

"Oh…" She cast a glance back at the house, which was far away from her by now. She realized that she had been closer to Bertha's house. That must have been why her mother had caught sight of her. "He's back at the house. I had to…I had to leave for a while."

Her mother blinked, taking a seat in the snow in front of her. "Why?" She asked, looking at her kitten carefully. "Did something happen, Ludi? Is it something bad? Something you want to talk about? Ever since you got taken away from me, I haven't seen you really except from across the village."

Ludi lashed her tail uncomfortably behind her, eyes downcast as she looked at the ground. "It's nothing hopefully." She branched out, grimacing. "We were playing, and I messed up. I started to attack a bug and there were papers underneath and they got shredded. Hiccup got mad…I guess that they were really important to him. I didn't think about it, I just did it. And he shouted at me and told me to get out. So I did." She paused for a moment, looking at her mother out of the corner of her eyes. "But I'm sure that it will blow over, right?" She asked hopefully.

Her mother purred, "I'm sure it will, little one." She assured without hesitation.

But Ludi still wasn't sure. "It's not just now." She said, her mother blinking as she straightened. "It's a lot of times where he gets weird. He gets all quiet and he stares at one thing for the longest time. When I try to get him up in the morning, he always just stares at this corner of the room and wont say anything for the longest time. Today his friends wanted to go out flying with him, but he said no. I think that it's because of me. He doesn't want to leave me, so he can't go flying with the others." She shuffled her paws on the ground shamefully. "Maybe I should just come back and live with you."

To her surprise, her mother merely smiled at her, reaching out and licking her affectionately in between the ears. " No, no." She said gently, leaning back and giving her a warm smile. "That is not the case, my dear. You see, it was a few weeks ago when it happened. You might know that Hiccup once had a Night Fury dragon named Toothless?" When Ludi nodded once, her mother went on. "Well, it was a few weeks ago when Hiccup and Toothless found another Night Fury. She was a female, and it was very peculiar, because we had all thought that Toothless was the only Night Fury out there.

"Well, Toothless slowly started to get more and more angry towards Hiccup. Nobody really knows why, even now. But then one day Toothless attacked Hiccup and so did the female. He came back to the villages in shambles, and that's when Stoick had enough of it. They were going to drive Toothless out over the ice with the female to where they came from, but Hiccup made a new tail for Toothless to allow him to fly on his own. Since Toothless only had one tailfin on his tail, he couldn't fly without Hiccup's help. Now he can, and him and female flew away together. That was the last anybody saw of the two."

Ludi blinked, straightening as her mother explained. "Wow." She meowed quietly, looking down at the snow in between her paws. "So it ISN'T my fault then? But…that's still so sad." She looked back at the house once more, ears folding against her head. "Weren't they really close though? Now I get it…Hiccup doesn't even have another dragon to fly with."

"That's right."

"Well…then those pictures I ripped up?" Ludi asked sullenly, shoulder slumping. "They probably had something to do with Toothless. And when Hiccup got mad…he said 'I don't want this cat. I never did.'" She looked at her mother, eyes round with distress. "That means he doesn't want me anymore. What do I do now?"

"Don't think like that." Her mother chastised, going over and pressing her flank close to her daughter's. Ludi relaxed somewhat, leaning into her mother's warmth with a shiver. "Of course he loves you, he just got mad is all. I've seen the way that he lets you stay on his shoulder, and the way he pets you and smiles at you. He loves you very much, dear. And you should never forget that. In a way, you might become something just as close to his heart like Toothless."

"But I don't want to do that. I don't want to just be something that replaces his old friend." She objected, her mother drawing back slightly with surprise. "I'm ME. Not Toothless. I want Hiccup to love me because I'm me, not just because he lost his other friend and needs a replacement. How will I know if he really cares about me? If Toothless comes back one day, will he just cast me aside? And never take a look at me again?"

"I doubt that would really happen." Her mother said fairly. "Hiccup isn't one to do that. He is hopelessly heroic, no matter what he may look like. If Toothless ever comes back, he will have you on his shoulder and Toothless by his side. It will all turn out right eventually, trust me, little one."

Ludi gave a hum of reply, the two going silent for a while. Overhead, the snow was getting stronger, coming down in thicker clumps that felt slightly hard. One landed on Ludi's nose, and he gave a squeak, shaking it off roughly. "I'm getting cold." She whined to nobody in particular.

Her mother drew back, giving her a small nudge back the way she had come. "Well, then you'd better go back to your home, Ludi." She said quietly, yellow eyes warm. "It's been nice talking to you. Perhaps we can meet more often, I would like to see my daughter more than once."

Ludi smiled crookedly, much like Hiccup's own smile. "I'd like that." She purred, before spinning around and charging back to the house. She was confident in her ways, because she was not Toothless. She would never hurt Hiccup like Toothless had, she was going to be there for her human. And if he needed a long time to get over Toothless, that was fine by her. She understood his strange behaviors now, and she knew that she had to be careful. She had to be careful, and she had to be gentle. And understanding.

And Hiccup had to be like that too. They were as much of a team and he and Toothless had been, and there was no going back now. She was stuck with him now, and he was stuck with her. With the icy wind flying through her fur, all of Ludi's worries over Hiccup vanished. She would go back up to the room and make things right between them, because after all, she had been the one to make things wrong.

Bounding up the steps, Ludi jumped up onto a windowsill, squeezing through the cracked-open window with care. Glancing around, she realized she was in the kitchen. The other man who was rough with her was nowhere to be found, and it appeared like the house was empty. Taking a deep breath, Ludi launched down from the sill and landed with a gentle thump on the ground.

Perking her ears, Ludi turned and walked into the living room, turning and jumping up the stairs one by one. There was a soft fire in the hearth, the crackling and popping of the fire reaching her ears as she went up the stairs slowly. Coming to the top, she leaned over to look around the corner, heaving herself up as she saw Hiccup's room at the end of the hall. Paw steps seeming to echo in the silence, Ludi brightened as she neared the room. The door was slightly open, leaving just enough room for her to sidle in without causing attention to herself. She wasn't sure that she wanted Hiccup to see her yet.

Coming into the room, she spotted a small sheet and recognized the thing as paper. It was a full sheet, many others stacked on each other lying beside the desk. Hopping over to the pile, Ludi took a sheet gently in her mouth, making a face at the odd taste that entered her mouth. Nevertheless, she turned and looked up curiously at Hiccup's bed. The teen was lying down, barely moving. Was he asleep?

But the slightest twitch of movement told her otherwise. Huffing around the paper in her jaws, Ludi veered off to the left and walked around Hiccup's bed, pausing as she came to the edge. Gathering herself, she pushed off from the ground and shot into the air, leaning forward and landing right beside Hiccup without any difficulty.

The boy started as she fell beside him, obviously surprised. Before he could do anything else, she dropped the clean sheet of paper beside him, turning and jumping back down to the ground. Hiccup blinked, pushing himself up and looking down oddly at the piece of paper. "Ludi?" He asked, trying to see her through the darkness of the room.

A few moments later, she hopped up once more, holding something else in her mouth. As it dropped with a small clatter, Hiccup picked it up and realized it was his charcoal pencil. Blinking rapidly, he looked over at Ludi, confused. The kitten's large eyes were like mini pools of sadness, and she wore the "Cuteness" look as she stared at him. Hiccup could basically hear her asking for forgiveness. She reached out and small paw and prodded the surface of the paper imploringly, not tearing her gaze away from him.

Pausing for a moment, Hiccup stared at her blankly. Slowly, a weak smile came over his face, and he reached out and patted the cat on the head. "You make it hard to stay mad at you." He said. But Ludi's ears flattened as she saw him look over sadly at the mess of shredded papers on the ground.

Lying down dejectedly, Ludi stared at Hiccup as the boy leaned over the piece of paper, taking the pencil in his hand and starting draw. The charcoal made scratchy noises on the surface of the paper, and Ludi suddenly realized that she was tired. Worn out, and still cold. Fluffing out her fur, she rested her head on her paws and closed her eyelids gratefully, snuggling into Hiccup's warmth with a rumbling purr.

Right when she was about ready to fall asleep, Hiccup poked her awake, making her eyes snap open. Blinking blearily, the kitten raised her head and looked with a puzzled look at Hiccup. The boy was holding the piece of paper tightly in his hand, a small smile on his face as he showed it to her. The surface now held a small picture, dark against pale yellow. The image he had drawn was something Ludi hadn't expected, and her ears perked up along with her tail as she smiled.

It was her! Hiccup had drawn a small cat on the paper that looked remarkably close to her own image. Ludi purred loudly, giving a meow of happiness as he reached up and prodded the paper with approval. She looked over at Hiccup to see what was on his face, but blinked as she saw that the boy had already lied back down, his eyes closed.

Smiling, Ludi turned away from the paper, purring as she bundled herself underneath Hiccup's hand, pressing herself against the boy's skinny frame as she closed her own eyes. Soon enough, both of the them were sound asleep, the shredded papers in the corner of the room slipping both of their minds as the image of the cat lied to the left of both of them.

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A/N: I felt like we once again needed a break from angst and go to fluffy-ness~

I don't know whether or not I will update tomorrow, I have PSR to go to AKA my after-school religion class, remember? So that's a heads-up for all of you~

Next chapter will contain something VERY important! So stay tuned! :D

MA NA MA NA! DO DOOO DO DO DO! :3


	13. Chapter 13

Hiccup woke up with his face pressed against the wall. It might seem an awkward way to wake up, and it was, really. At first, he was confused, blinking with a puzzled look on his face as he slowly pushed himself away from the wood. Looking around, Hiccup saw that it was still dark outside, the first few rays of the sun poking through the window almost carefully. It was the cold that had woken him, nothing else. How did he get all the way over here?

Ludi's fuzzy head rose up slowly, the kitten blinking blearily as she looked at Hiccup like he was stupid. But she tried to push herself up, nonetheless, it taking a large amount of effort for her to even get into an upright position. Hiccup had no idea what time it was, it had to be something like six or seven. He didn't even try and consider the fact that it might be five.

Straightening, Hiccup finally realized where he was. Pushing himself up with difficulty, Hiccup looked down at the corner of the room that he had mostly been avoiding for the past two weeks. He pushed away the twinge in his heart quickly, giving the small space a glare as he turned pointedly, shuffling back over to his bedside.

Ludi mewled softly, watching him with her large amber eyes. The sight of the cat reminded him of something, and he turned to cast a look back at the shredded mess that was still left on his floor. Almost as if she was scared that he would get angry again, Ludi's ears flattened her head, looking away slightly as she shifted. Holding back a small sigh, Hiccup reached out and patted her head affectionately despite himself, giving her a crooked smile.

Turning over without a word, Hiccup bent down carefully, reaching out an grabbing up fistfuls of the torn pieces of paper, holding them tightly in his hands as he leaned back. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Hiccup's eyes slid over to the trash can that lied a few inches away from him. "It's already ruined." He muttered to himself, looking down at the crumpled bits of paper. "It's not like they'll make a difference if I keep it."

Ludi chirped where she lied, shaking herself roughly and jumping off of the bed, landing unbalanced as she staggered. Hiccup glanced over at the cat as she bounded forward, pushing her head against Hiccup's arm with a rumbling purr. Edges of his mouth titling up slightly, Hiccup scratched her behind the ear gratefully. "Alright then." He sighed, gulping once more as he looked over at the small basket. "I guess I have to do this sooner or later. Although I'd rather do it later."

The kitten curled her tail over her paws neatly with a tilted head as Hiccup reached over slowly to the trash, pulling it closer to him and sighing as it made a small scratching sound on the wood. Tightening his grip on the paper, his knuckles turned white and he couldn't help but cast one look back at the corner. It was empty, and bare, and mocking him where he sat. Ludi was right beside him, ears perked as she studied him carefully. Her warm presence encouraged Hiccup. She was here. At least he still had something.

He had to think about that. He couldn't dwell on Toothless anymore, he had to bring himself out of the state he had been in for the last few days. In the back of his mind, he realized that he hadn't been acting like himself for a long time. Waking up in the corner where Toothless slept, becoming more quiet than usual, shying away from people and passing dragons…yelling. He winced visibly as he glanced over at Ludi.

But the kitten gave him a large smile as she caught his gaze, seeming unbothered by the memory of last night that still lingered in his head. Her tail flicked across the ground as she sat neatly, and her gaze was trained on the pieces of papers in Hiccup's hands. It was as if she waiting for Hiccup to make a move. To see whether or not he would actually throw away the shreds, or just cling to the remains of the drawings. Hiccup took in a sharp breath as he looked down at the mess in his hands, freezing as he caught sight of a small drawing of Toothless looking back at him.

Smiling, eyes bright. This wasn't the Toothless he had seen in the last moments. He had seen a dragon completely changed, eyes glaring and cold, fangs bared and claws drawn. It was like something foreign to Hiccup, and he could do nothing but stare down at the papers for a few moments, locked in silence. Ludi didn't even do anything, not daring to even mew the smallest bit as she sat beside her owner.

Hiccup flinched as he saw his hands shaking, and quicker than he had meant to, he flashed over to the side and slammed the papers down into the basket. He blinked, looking somewhat startled as he looked down into the basket, hand twitching as if he wanted to reach back in and grab it. But he retained himself, instead leaning over and grabbing more pieces of paper, repeating the slow process as he stared down emptily at the papers.

This lasted longer than he planned. He was in his own little world of memories, eyes misty and glazed as he stared down. Memories swam like minnows in his eyes, and Ludi settled down to lie beside him, blinking as she watched the sun rise in the distance. The whole mood was detached, Hiccup not paying attention to anything else, and Ludi waiting patiently as she watched the golden rays seep into the room.

By the time Hiccup had cleared the whole ground, the sun was higher in the sky, and he guessed it to be about eight. He let out a loose sigh, slightly shaky as he looked at the empty ground. "There." He breathed, hand rising to press against the side of his head. "It's done." He paused for a moment, looking around absent-mindedly. "Wha-"

Almost as soon as he said that, the door flew open, and a girl's head popped inside. "Hello? Hiccup, are you awake?" Astrid asked, eyes sparkling. She smiled as she saw Hiccup sitting on the ground beside Ludi. She seemed not to notice the slightly disturbed look on his face, for she gave a small laugh, slipping inside and sitting down next to him. "Hey there!" She said warmly. "I figured we could do something together today. I felt sort of bad ditching you yesterday."

"Oh- no, that's fine." Hiccup said easily. "I wasn't mad or anything." Not at her.

Astrid seemed not to notice, tilting her head and reaching over as she petted Ludi on her head affectionately. "So what have you two been up to?" She asked, flashing Hiccup a smile. "You know, this cat reminds me a lot of you. You two are perfect for one another." Hiccup snorted, reaching over and shoving her to the side good-naturedly. "So…what do you wanna do today?"

Ludi meowed loudly where she sat, tail lashing to the side as she shot a glare at Hiccup. The boy blinked, "I think we should have breakfast." He offered, Ludi getting to her paws and dashing out of the door before he could even finished. Astrid shot him a humorous look where she sat, and Hiccup heaved a small sigh, pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. Astrid started, jumping up beside him and starting after the cat.

Looking after her, Hiccup hesitated, turning and looking back at the woven trash basket with a small blink. Rubbing his arm uncomfortably, Hiccup leaned back over, reaching into the trash can quickly and grabbing the piece of paper that contained Toothless's whole image on the surface. It was the only one that Hiccup had found that wasn't ripped, and he shoved it into his pocket as he rushed after Astrid.

She was already downstairs in the kitchen, Ludi meowing loudly beside her. The girl was picking up some pieces of bread and berries, putting them out on the table neatly. "You need more breakfast food." She said once Hiccup came into the kitchen. "You don't have anything, this is the last stuff that was really good."

"I don't really eat breakfast." Hiccup sighed, taking a seat in one of the chairs with a thump. "But thanks anyway, you mean well." Astrid made a face at the last part, but took a seat across from him nevertheless.

Ludi snorted where she sat, looking very put-out. Hiccup started, turning and getting up from his seat to go to the cabinet. Reaching up, he grabbed the small bowl that contained Ludi's food. It was dried food, and was meant for all pets that weren't dragons. It looked pretty unappetizing compared to what was on the table, which was why Hiccup wasn't surprised when Ludi turned up her nose as he placed the bowl of food in front of her.

He was about to give her a bowl of berries instead, but he caught Astrid's raised eyebrow, and knew that she would never let him live it down if he got beaten by the cat. He had to be smart about this. "Ludi, be grateful!" He snapped, folding his arms over his chest. "A lot of kittens like you would kill for this food."

Ludi deadpanned as she looked at the dry slop. Hiccup fidgeted before going over and sitting down in his chair. "Eat, Ludi." He ordered, trying to make his voice sound final. "You'll eat the food because that's what you're supposed to eat." He looked over at Astrid, and the girl gave him a small smile, bending over and starting to eat.

The two launched into conversations at once. They talked about Hiccup's job, the constant snow in Berk, and Astrid even briefly talked about her dragon, eyeing Hiccup uneasily as she did so. But Hiccup listened with something close to enthusiasm. It almost felt good for him to be able to talk about dragons again. Even though there was a small ache in his heart as he smiled at her, he never knew that Stormfly had learned to boil water and make fires without burning down the house as well. Quite impressive.

Hiccup was so wrapped up in the conversation, he almost didn't see what Ludi was doing. But he caught her in the act of trying to bring a roll over to her, and he turned around quickly, fixing her with a hard stare. One piece of almost-chewed bred hanging out of the corner of her mouth, Ludi blinked slowly at Hiccup, slowly dropping the half-eaten piece onto the tabletop. She slowly met Hiccup's eyes, and Hiccup realized what she was going to do a moment too late.

Her eyes got huge, her ears flattened to her head, and she looked up ever so slightly. It was the "Cuteness Meter" look, and Hiccup stiffened at once. She looked pitiful, and she shuffled her paws closer to her as she let out a small, pathetic mew. Eye twitching, Hiccup held her gaze a moment or two longer before he finally gave up with a yell, whirling around and shoving the bread close to her as he did so.

Ludi gave out a purr and tucked into the bread happily.

Astrid giggled from where she sat, and Hiccup threw a look over at her sharply. Immediately, she tried to stifle the laughter, struggling as she did so. "Oh, I'm sorry." She finally said airily. "But you have to admit, it's adorable. She knows just the right strings to pull on you!" When Hiccup only continued to glare at her, she laughed, reaching over and picking up Ludi, who let out a loud meow as she was drawn away from her food.

Holding the kitten out to face her, Astrid smiled warmly. "Is you a smart little kitten?" Astrid cooed, using improper grammar, Hiccup might add. "You are so cute, yes you are!" Looking over at Hiccup, and smiled toothily. "She doesn't even have to say anything for you to do what she wants, all she has to do is look at you! OH MY ODIN SHE IS SO ADORABLE!" She shook Ludi as she yelled the last words, jarring the kitten as she was flung about.

Hiccup huffed, leaning over and resting his chin on the table. Astrid still wouldn't stop though. "Oh my goodness, you're so soft! I would give anything for you to be my kitten, oh yes I would. I would LOVE to have you at my house." She paused for a minute, giggling as she looked at Ludi. "But of course, that would make me under your spell now, then, wouldn't it?"

"Spell isn't the right word." Hiccup sang where he sat.

"Oh come on." Astrid threw him a look. "She looks at you with that adorable stare and you do whatever she wants you to do. You would jump off a cliff if she gave you that look, wouldn't you? Keep away from cliffs, little baby." Astrid cooed, directing the last part to the cat. "Aww! I just wanna take you and snuggle with you SO BAD!"

"Astrid, you are FREAKING ME OUT. Stopit." Hiccup snapped, giving her a frustrated look. "Can you talk like a normal being? She is just a cat. She's cute, but she's a cat. I didn't know you could be like this. And let me say this: I never want to see this side of you ever again."

Astrid stuck her tongue out at him, bouncing Ludi up and down on her knee. The kitten was starting to look frazzled, fur bushed out and eyes wide as she looked at Hiccup helplessly. Hiccup merely waved to her once, a smug look on his face. "Maybe I'm under her spell already." Astrid giggled. "You'd better watch out, I might just steal her." She gave Hiccup a small wink, standing up from her chair, still clutching the kitten tightly. "Let's go get your collar on, huh?" She sang, going into the next room. "You coming, Hiccup?"

But Hiccup wasn't listening. He had a thoughtful look on his face, forehead creased as he looked with confusion at the wall. Something was odd. Something was…he straightened, tilting his head to the side as he sat back up. Silence reigned in the room for a long time, seconds seeming to stretch on forever to the boy. Thoughts whirred, memories clicked, Astrid's sentences fit.

Slowly…very slowly…the boy's eyes widened.

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A/N: BUM BUM BUMMMMM

CLIFFIE. …AGAIN :D

Hope all of you liked this chapter, and I get a lot of reviews for it! ^^

I really liked it a lot, and now I know where I am going for this! So strap yourselves in, because it's going to be a bumpy ride~!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: This might be a little short considering the fact that I have to go see my friends' choir concert! That should be fun, right? ;)

I'M LISTENING TO A SAD SONG AND I JUST GOT AN IDEA FOR THE STORY, AND THAT MEANS TROUBLE! D:

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"Hiccup? Hiccup? Hiccup? Hiccup? Hiccup? HICCUP WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Hiccup jerked, letting out a startled yell as he fell to the side, flying out of his chair and slamming into the ground. Astrid blinked, taking a small step back as he looked up, eyes narrowed as he glared at her.

"What was that for?" He snapped, pushing himself back up and brushing himself off.

Ludi sat on Astrid's shoulder, head tilted to the side cutely as she stared down at Hiccup. To make fun, Astrid did the same, smiling as she did so. "I waited for you to follow me, but you were staring at the wall. I poked you, but apparently you didn't notice." She huffed out the last words, looking at Hiccup expectantly.

But her smile faded as his frown stayed. The boy turned, blinking as he looked out the nearby window. In the sky, dragons and birds flitted by, his stomach twisting in a complicated knot as he watched them. Astrid followed his gaze, rubbing her arm as she realized what was on his mind. "Here, why don't we go and do something?" She suggested, reaching out for his hand. "We can go down to the ocean and skate. It's thick enough."

Hiccup looked over at her in silence, green eyes sharp and clouded with thought. Astrid let her hand slap down to her side, looking at Hiccup questioningly. The only sound for a while was the soft rustling of Ludi as she shifted, trying to get comfortable on Astrid's shoulder. Astrid was sort of afraid to breathe even as she looked at Hiccup, and she was slightly relieved as he broke the tense silence.

"I have to go."

Astrid's relief flew out the window. "Wait…what?" She asked, shuffling backwards as Hiccup marched back to his room. "Go where? What?" She spluttered confused noises as Hiccup rounded the corner, and she ran after him up the stairs. Ludi mewled where she sat, digging her claws into Astrid's shoulder armor, clinging on for dear life. "Hiccup, what's going on?" Astrid turned and marched into Hiccup's room, pushing her way inside and looking critically at the boy. "Where are you going?"

Hiccup was putting clothes and blankets down on the bed, reaching over and getting a rather large cloth bag from his closet. "After Toothless." He snapped, not even turning to look at her as he shoved the stuff into the cloth bag. Astrid blinked, eyes widening as she looked at him with disbelief.

"What do you mean? Toothless has been gone for weeks! He could be anywhere, Hiccup! You just got over him, don't fall back now. You don't need him, he changed." Eyes softening slightly, she paced forward to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle smile. "You don't need him anymore."

Hiccup looked over at her steadily, eyes narrowing. "But he needs me." He said clearly, turning and slinging the bag over his shoulder. Astrid blinked, giving him a weird look as he brushed by her.

"Hiccup, why would he possibly need you?" Astrid asked, folding her arms over her chest as she spoke sharper than she meant to. At once, Hiccup stopped in the hall, going rigid. The blonde sighed softly, pacing forward to stand behind him once again. "Think this through, alright?" She asked gently. "You don't even know where he is. And the last time you tried to help him, he only tried to attack you. Wherever he is, I'm sure he's happy. And I'm sure that he would want you to be happy where you are, if he could. The fact is, he probably wasn't meant to stay here. No other Night Furies did."

She paused for a moment, pursing her lips. "And you have Ludi now." She said bracingly, grabbing the cat and putting her on Hiccup's shoulder in turn. Meowing loudly, the cat scrambled up, puffing as she did so. Her fur was bushed out, and she looked frazzled to say the least. Getting tossed around by Astrid seemed not to be something she enjoyed. That figures.

"You don't understand. He didn't want to leave, I don't think." Hiccup said quietly, turning around slowly to face the blonde. "I don't think he did, I think he wanted to stay. He never showed one sign of wanting to leave. He only did when the female showed up." When Astrid's face still remained blank, he pressed on. "What you said just now back in the kitchen about Ludi's stare made me remember something odd that happened between them. The female always used to give this weird-looking stare to Toothless, and then he would get all weird. That was right before he started to hate me. And I don't think it's a coincidence."

Astrid was quiet for a moment, and Hiccup was about to turn around and go back down the stairs before she spoke up. "But what if it IS a coincidence?" Astrid pressed. Hiccup sighed, turning back to her. "I mean- are you suggesting that she did something to put Toothless under some sort of…spell?" She scoffed out the last word, and Hiccup's grip tightened on the bag as he gritted his teeth together tightly. "Don't get me wrong, Hiccup, but don't you think that's a little far-fetched? Can dragons even do that?"

"We have never seen interaction before between two Night Furies." Hiccup spat, glaring at her so sharply that she took a small step backwards. "And before this, I thought that it was something I did to make him hate me so badly. But now I know he didn't even mean it. There's still something there, and I am going to find it once I find Toothless. I don't care how long it takes me to find him, I wont stop until I do."

"But you don't…you…Hiccup, this is stupid." Astrid said, her voice taking an almost whiney tone. Controlling herself, she tried again. "How are you even going to get there?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "You don't have a dragon. And I'm sure that your father wouldn't give you a new one. Not when you tell him what harebrained scheme you're coming up with."

"…Give me Stormfly."

"Under no circumstances!" Astrid flared, immediately stomping one foot on the ground.

"Please, Astrid!" Hiccup begged. "I KNOW that this is the right thing to do! I know that Toothless would never do something like this! I have known it for a long time, I just didn't see how it would make sense. Now it does, and I know that Toothless isn't coming back on his own. He needs me. And I need him a lot more than he needs me. I need him back here, I can't live without him."

"You don't know what you're going up against." Astrid snapped. "Hiccup, anything could be waiting for you there. Wherever you think you are going, that is. I realize that you might miss him, so do I. And I have to admit, your theory kind of makes sense…but I wouldn't be able to let you go off alone like your planning to."

Hiccup turned abruptly and marched downstairs to the kitchen, Astrid huffing loudly as she ran after him. Hiccup was taking meals of food from the cabinets and pantry, putting them inside the bag encased in their own. He refused to look at her as he did so, and Astrid leaned against the doorframe awkwardly, watching him with a small grimace.

"I can see I can't stop you." She sighed softly.

"No." Hiccup replied flatly, shooting her a look from the corner of his eye.

"…And if I don't give you Stormfly, then you'll just steal her."

"That's about it." Hiccup huffed, slinging the bag over his shoulder as he found a few days worth of food. "So you might as well just let me go." He blinked, stopping in his tracks as he looked at her blankly.

Astrid paused for a moment. "Not alone."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going with you."

"No."

"…What?"

"You were right about one thing, Astrid, I don't know where they are or what will be waiting for me. I know which direction they went, and that's the best I can do. But when I get there, I think that it'd be best if I was alone. That way I would draw more attention away from myself, and it would be a lot easier."

"What if something happens?" Astrid asked icily, deadpanning. "What if you get into trouble? You could not come back, Hiccup, you realize this, right? If I come, I can help you with the fighting, things that you aren't exactly excelling in." She ignored Hiccup's glare. "I could help you, I helped you once, right?"

"Astrid, I need you here to look after Ludi." Hiccup said, pushing his way past her and making for the door. "She's a handful, and she's more of a handful than she looks. And I can't leave her with somebody she doesn't know. She'll freak out, and then the village will never hear the end of it. And neither will I."

"Hiccup…" Astrid sighed, watching him go with a sad look. "You can't just leave me here with the all-important job of looking after the cat. Come on. Hiccup? Hiccup! Hiccup, come back! Wait!"

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Hiccup was boarded on Stormfly, the bags of supplies tied onto the dragon, and he was ready to go. There was a slight tremor in his stomach, he could literally feel it doing flips and summersaults inside of him. But determination stilled the feeling as he narrowed his eyes slowly. He had to do this, he had to get toothless. The Night Fury was stuck, he was sure. He knew that if he didn't get him, nobody else would.

Astrid watched him carefully, hugging herself tightly from the cold as she eyed him. "When will you be back?"

"I dunno. You can expect a Night Fury in tow." Hiccup mumbled.

"…Good luck then. I hope you aren't making a stupid mistake like I know this is."

"Goodbye to you too, Astrid." Hiccup snorted. He paused for a moment or two before turning back and looking at Berk carefully. He would just be gone a while, it wasn't going to be anything major. He would find Toothless and find some way to bring him back. He remembered the startled look Toothless had the time when he met eyes with Hiccup, and the boy tightened his grip on Stormfly, whipping back around. "Alright, let's go!" He shouted to the Nadder.

The dragon perked up immediately, pushing off of the ground with wings spread open. They caught the air, and soon they were soaring forward, Astrid watching as they became just a dot on the horizon. She stayed in silence for a moment, looking slightly saddened as she stared at the spot where they disappeared.

Then she whirled around and dashed away.

Hiccup looked out into the sea, making sure that they were going the direction that Toothless and the female had left. He knew in the back of his mind that he would be able to find them. He hoped they would. He prayed they would.

They flew for the rest of the day, and when it started to get dark, Hiccup had the idea of sleeping down on the ice. It wasn't like the ice would crack, it was too late into winter for that to happen. Since dragons couldn't feel the cold of the ice or snow, Stormfly fell asleep as soon as she hit the frozen water.

Eyeing it carefully, Hiccup slid off of her back and onto the slippery surface. Finding it more than difficult to walk on it with his prosthetic leg, Hiccup scooted over and grabbed the large bag of blankets and clothes from Stormfly. Opening up the bag, Hiccup thrust his hand in to get out as many blankets as he could.

But he stiffened as he felt something. Slowly, he looked down. And let out a loud yell.

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A/N: BAD ENDING IS BAD.

Can you tell I have to leave now? I have to.

Sorry I cut it so short so bad, I'll make it up tomorrow hopefully! D:

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	15. Chapter 15

"Stoick?" Astrid yelled, pushing through the crowd of people in the Mess Hall. Her eyes darted back and forth as she stumbled forward, ignoring yells of greeting and glares as she pushed past random people. She couldn't find the chief yesterday, she had been more than frustrated after she waited in front of Hiccup's house for two hours. He had been nowhere that she could think of, and by the end of the day, she was at a loss of what else to do other than just going back to her own house.

But she was going to go find the chief now if she had to kill somebody. The fact that Hiccup could be anywhere right now made her quicken her pace, becoming more violent with her pushes until she finally came to a stop, her eyes landing on a small table as she breathed out a huff of air. Stoick was sitting at a table with Gobber and Spitelout, the two seemed to be in deep conversations together, and Astrid had half a mind to turn around and leave.

But the other half of her screamed at her to get a move on, which of course spoke louder than the other. Sucking in a deep breath, Astrid paced forward, hands curling into tight fists at her sides as she went. Clearing her throat loudly for Stoick to hear, she looked at the Chieftain in the eye steadily as he turned back to face her.

"Hello there." Stoick said, faintly surprised by the odd look in the child's eye. "Is somethin' the matter, Astrid? Where is Hiccup?" The father looked off to the side of her, as if he expected Hiccup to come up from behind her with his usual goofy smile. He frowned as he saw nothing.

"Stoick, that's the thing." Astrid said, wincing uneasily as she spoke. "Hiccup is gone." She ignored the shocked look that he gave her and plowed on ahead. "I tried to get him to stay here, but he went off to search for Toothless. He has this weird thought in his head that Toothless didn't want to leave and that the female made him leave."

"What?" Stoick roared, Astrid hopping backwards as the man shot up to his feet. His eyes were narrowed as his head went back and forth, as if his thought that Astrid was lying to him as he tried to catch sight of his son. Bringing his fist down on the table, Stoick looked down at Spitelout. "We have to go after him." He growled under his breath. "Odin knows that child is trouble-prone. Do you know where he went?"

"No." Astrid said uncomfortably, shifting as she spoke. "He took Stormfly though, and he left yesterday, so I don't know how far away they are by now. I tried to find you yesterday, but I couldn't, I looked everywhere." She didn't ask what Stoick had been doing, it wasn't any of her business of her's at all. All she could think of was Hiccup. What if he got in trouble before they could find him? What if they were too late. "How are we going to get there with the ice there?" Astrid blurted out.

Stoick seemed to be at something of a loss for a moment or two, staying still as he looked down at the girl. Spitelout was the one to speak up. "We could follow Hiccup's example." He offered weakly. "We could take dragons and then have one or two of them devoted to supplies."

"That wouldn't be enough for everyone." Stoick snapped, looking at the ground with narrowed eyes. "We have to think of something else to be able to get across the ice. We have to get Hiccup back before he does something stupid. Like loose his other leg, or an arm. If we don't act now, Hiccup might be able to rival Gobber for the amount of limbs lost."

Gobber's face turned sour, and he flashed back. "I like Spitelout's idea now." He declared. "It's faster than goin' by boat, and we could have just as much supplies on the dragons. They can hold just as much as boats. Maybe more." He flashed a look over at Astrid, looking distracted for a moment as he straightened, looking around. "Where's that little cat?" He asked. "Did Hiccup really take her with 'im? Usually she's out and about this time o' day, just like Hiccup."

Astrid started, blinking as she followed Gobber and looking around wildly. She hadn't even noticed the small thing's absence, and a pang of guilt pierced through her heart. Hiccup had put her in charge of Ludi, and she had let the kitten run off somewhere. She was probably in Hiccup's room, wondering where he was. The thought made Astrid's heart bleed, and she said a hasty goodbye. "I'll be back later. I expect to come with you, too." Not giving them a millisecond of argue, she spun on her heel and dashed off into the crowd.

Weaving through the people around her, Astrid grimaced at the thought of Ludi. But that was not the case of course, the thoughts she wanted to linger on was Hiccup. The amount of stupidity he held exceeded her usual thought, and she didn't know whether or not to be impressed, or irritated. Because she had known of his rash stupidity when he battled with the giant dragon at the nest. But at least that had a point.

Hiccup had no idea where to go, he had no idea what would be waiting for him, and he could probably be flying in circles for four hours straight and would never notice. Astrid knew that she had made the right choice in announcing his disappearance, this way he wouldn't die. But a nagging thought strayed at the back of her mind.

What if Hiccup was right? The boy and Toothless always had a stronger connection than any of the other dragons, and what if that applied here? Astrid stopped in her tacks, staring at the ground fixedly. If that were true…if that were true, did she just ruin everything?

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Hiccup glared right in front of him, a deadpanned expression on his face as he looked straight forward. His hands gripped the rope reign he had made quickly for Stormfly, and he did all he could not to lunge forward and knock the thing off. Ludi sat recklessly on Stormfly's head, amber eyes widened cutely as she squealed loudly. Her fluffy fur was slicked back to her by the wind, making her seem twice as small as she really was. Although she was much bigger than a Terrible Terror by now, she was still a runt, nonetheless.

Hiccup glared at her anyway, reliving the terror he had felt last night when he found her smuggled in his bag. How she could have possibly gotten here, Hiccup had absolutely no idea. All he knew was that Ludi knew that she was not supposed to be there, for she was even happier to see him than usual. She was always happier when she knew she wasn't supposed to be doing something.

"I knew you were more trouble than you were worth." Hiccup snapped. Ludi stiffened, straightening as she turned around to look at him. She seemed completely at ease, even though she was balanced precariously on top of a Nadder's head more than a hundred feet up in the air. She lashed her tail and gave him the "Cute Meter" stare, and Hiccup looked at her wearily.

"But…I guess I wouldn't be here without you." He said ungraciously. Ludi immediately purred, giving him something of a small nod. Standing up courageously, she hopped back to Hiccup and snuggled into his lap. She tucked her nose under her paw cutely, snuggling up against Hiccup as she vibrated with her purrs. Hiccup made a face, reaching over and smoothing her knotted fur down neatly.

"Don't walk around, please." He sighed shortly. "Do you want to fall off?" As Ludi let out a happy mew, he rolled his eyes, looking back up ahead. "You make me worry, and I didn't even want you in the first place. But I guess you knew that, didn't you?" His thoughts flashed back to the first night with her, picturing the kitten's determined face as she stumbled up to his bed on shaky legs. The way she had come back after he had yelled at her with a piece of paper in her mouth. How she had just come with him on a dragon up in the air. "And yet you will not leave me alone, will you?"

Ludi replied with a sleepy purr, eyes closing slowly. Hiccup eyed the small thing, keeping one hand on the Nadder as he stroked down her fur slowly, brushing out the knots and tangles that dotted through her pelt. "Who ever would have guessed that I would turn out to be a cat person?" Hiccup asked, smiling wistfully as he looked back up ahead. "Toothless was all I ever needed before now. I used to hate cats. Back when I was littler, I got scarred for life because Ruffnut's old cat attacked her face and gave her a scar she still has right on her forehead. So cats weren't exactly my priority ever since then."

Ludi didn't answer, having fallen asleep by now. With the only sound being the beating of Stormfly's wings and the wind whistling through his clothes and hair, Hiccup could faintly make out small snoring noises coming from the cat. Smiling crookedly, Hiccup let out a small laugh, looking ahead steadily as Stormfly flew on.

He closed his eyes, breathing out slowly. He felt something, he was sure of it. He knew that they were going the right way, the way to Toothless. Something stirred inside him, and he felt something different than before. Almost like the hole in his heart was being in the middle of being mended somehow. Like it was getting fuller and fuller the farther along they went. He didn't know where it came from, he didn't even know that it was right. But he knew they were going the direction Toothless had went, and hopefully they would come to something to give them another clue of where they went. He would search until he couldn't anymore, he wouldn't give up until he found Toothless and brought him back to the way he had been once before. It seemed like an impossible task, but he refused to be put down. He wasn't one to give up, and everyone in the village basically established that when he refused to stay inside during a dragon raid.

"Good job." He praised Stormfly absent-mindedly, leaning forward carefully as to not bother Ludi as he gave her neck a reassuring pat. "We're getting along good, Astrid would be very proud of you." He added the last part with a small wince, thoughts rushing back to Toothless as sadness pierced his heart once more.

Taking in a sharp breath, Hiccup's eyes slowly narrowed as he straightened. "I'll find you." He promised. "I'll never give up."

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"I'm gonna find you!" Toothless crowed, bouncing through the cavern noisily as he smiled lopsidedly. "Even though I've been trying to find you for five minutes, I wont give up!" His tail lashed from one side to another as he prowled along, head close to the ground as he went. Nightflight walked beside him, eyes alight with humor as she giggled under her breath.

"You do know that he's right there?" She whispered, leaning down so that only Toothless could hear her. The Night Fury shot her a look, glaring at her in mock anger. Drawing himself up to full height, Toothless puffed out his chest proudly, standing tall and erect as he looked down at her.

"I am a magnificent seeker." He declared, Nightflight laughing slyly as he spoke. "And so it stands to reason that I could find a dragon egg in a pile of eels! I would know whether or not he was right there, for he is not! He must be the GREATEST hider ever, for even I, Toothless the Great, cannot find him!" He ended his proud speech, closing his eyes and lifting his head self-importantly.

Nightflight nudged him humorously. "Sure." She gushed. "You are far too great for something like him to defeat you." She blinked, pressing her head against Toothless's side affectionately. Toothless blinked, pausing for a moment that seemed like forever. But then he smiled, leaning back against her with a rumble.

"HEY HEY HEY." The two jumped as they spun around. Shadowclaw paraded forward, coming out from his hiding spot as he glared sharply at the two. "We're playing hide-and-seek!" He whined. "You guys are supposed to be finding me, not cuddling!" He sat down with a huff, glaring over at Toothless.

The Night Fury straightened, smiling widely, embarrassed. "Sorry!" He yelped, Nightflight blinking warmly down at the small dragon. "There you are! I never saw you there, you picked a really good hiding spot. It was much better than your last one, we found you really fast with that one."

Shadowclaw puffed himself up, still looking sourly at Toothless. "Yup!" He quipped, hopping to his feet and leaping around Toothless with his tail waving in the air proudly. "You can't beat me now! Sooner or later, you'll never be able to find me during this game! I'll be lost forever, and you'll never be able to find me!"

"And how are you supposed to live while alone?" Toothless purred.

"Pft. I'm almost old enough to get out of the nursery. I'll be fine. And anyways, I'd just be hiding from YOU. Not anybody else, except for Nightflight, I'll hide from you too." He looked up at Nightflight with large green eyes that were sparkling with humor and sweetness. The gaze made Toothless's guard drop, just like it always did. He blinked, confused for a moment or two before he leaned forward, prodding Shadowclaw in the side, making the smaller dragon sprawl down onto the ground.

"Let's play another round!" Toothless said happily. "I'll find you this time!"

"Nuh-uh!" Shadowclaw yelped, turning around and dashing into one of the other tunnels, gone in an instant. Toothless's tail curled up as he smiled, and he purred loudly at the pure innocence and cuteness of Shadowclaw that always made him feel something inside of him. He never tried to figure out what made him feel weird, it was always just something he associated with affection.

"Let's go, then. Before he runs into a wall." Toothless said, looking over at Nightflight warmly. "We don't want to return him to his mother all scratched up and bruised. I don't think that his mother would let us play with him anymore."

"Yeah." Nightflight agreed airily. "Your mother can be a little overprotective sometimes. But…I wanna ask you something first." She spoke the last part a little hesitantly, and Toothless perked his ears, turning back around to look at her, puzzled. "You…like it here, don't you?" Nightflight asked, titling her head to the side.

Toothless was a little surprised at the question. "Of course, I love it here." He said.

"And you wouldn't leave? You wouldn't leave me again…right? I don't think I would know what to do without you, Toothless. If you leave, I wont be whole anymore." Her large eyes met his, and she blinked slowly, almost sadly. Going forward, she pressed herself next to him, closing her eyes as she did so. "You wont leave…right?"

Toothless was still a little caught off-guard, but he smiled, leaning down and touching her head with his nose gently. "Of course, I wont." He promised. "I wouldn't ever want to leave you, I have nowhere else to go, right?" Nightflight shifted as he said this. "Besides, I have friends here, and I don't think I'll leave them either." When she still didn't look convinced, he added. "I've lived here my whole life, why would I leave?"

Nightflight pulled back, turning and putting her back to him. Toothless tilted his head to the side, wings dropping to the ground as he looked at her with concern. "Nightflight?" He asked hesitantly. "Is there something you wanna talk about? Something you wanna to tell me about?"

For a moment, she looked as if she was about to say something to him, her eyes wide with something close to helplessness. But she recovered, giving him a smile as she got to her feet. "Nah. I just wanted to test you." At Toothless's sour look, she reached over and prodded him teasingly. "Let's go! Shadowclaw has probably ran into fifty walls by now!"

Toothless snorted an agreement, getting to his feet and charging after Nightflight as the two dashed after Shadowclaw through the tunnel he had disappeared from.

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A/N: I gotta go! Have a good Christmas! ^.^


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I was quite surprised to see that 11 people are screaming for Nightflight's blood in my poll. Hm…. *thoughtful face*

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The normal chaos that usually took place on the island of Berk had more than tripled in the past day. Stoick was organizing a group of Vikings and their dragons for a search party to go after Hiccup. Vikings-in-Training were scrambling over one another with excitement, trying to weasel their way into the expatiation. It was like they were as bad as Hiccup, not knowing what would lie at the end of their journey and frankly not giving a care. To say it in nice terms, it set Astrid's teeth on edge.

They were preparing to leave, the dragons lined up on the edge of the cliff, wings ready as they trilled with anxiousness. Astrid had adopted a purple Monstrous Nightmare, the dragon still acting weary around her as it shifted uneasily. Fishlegs and Meatlug were on her left, followed by Snotlout and Hookfang. Tuffnut and Ruffnut had not been allowed to go, much to the teens' dismay. Stoick had told them that he needed people back here to protect the village while he was gone, but it did little to help the fist-fight between the brother and sister after he left. Each one blamed the other for the lack of adventure. Which was typical of course.

Astrid stood on the side of the borrowed dragon, rummaging around as she made sure that it was safe to ride on. The people around her were doing the same, stroking their dragons comfortably as they did so. The sight made Astrid's heart twist as she thought of Stormfly, but then the thought that followed made her pause. This was what Hiccup had felt for the last few weeks. For the most part, she had been trying to make him get back to normal, but now she could see why he was so quiet. Why he avoided the other people's eyes when they were around their dragons. But of course, Stormfly was with Hiccup, Astrid knew where she was. She was safe for the most part. Hiccup did not have any idea where Toothless was, and if the dragon would even want him back if he got there.

She let out a small sigh, turning her head and trying to focus on what she was doing. From where he sat, Snotlout craned his neck to the side, watching her with mild curiosity. Steering Hookfang, the teenager moved over to be on her other side, looking down at her carefully. "Do you have any idea where Hiccup could have gone?" He asked. "I mean- you were the one to see him leave."

Astrid shrugged, suddenly not wanting to talk that much. "I dunno." She mumbled, letting her hands fall to her sides as she took a step back from her dragon, lifting her eyes to meet Snotlout's. "I just know that he went off the way Toothless went." She paused for a moment, looking over at the dragons thoughtfully. "You know, I don't think I can blame him anymore. It must have been terrible enough for Toothless to start abandoning him. But for him to leave would have been like death for him or something. I know that I miss Stormfly, and I know that she's with Hiccup." She broke off, looking back over at Snotlout, who had a more somber face on by now. "Hiccup was the only person in the village without a dragon. Even the toddlers have one."

"I guess." Snotlout said hesitantly. Blinking, he looked down at Hookfang and reached forward, giving her head a small pat. "I know I wouldn't want Hookfang to go off and leave here." His eyes flashed up to the front, and he straightened somewhat. "Stoick just came over, are we leaving now?"

Astrid started, turning to follow the boy's gaze. But the tribe leader was fixing something on Spitelout's dragon. Astrid gave a small huff, "I guess we're leaving soon, then." She said after a moment's pause. She turned back and reached up, grabbing the dragon's back and hoisting herself up with a small thump. Situating herself neatly, she leaned forward and gave the dragon's neck a small pat. "Alright. I know I'm not your usual rider," One of the people that wasn't assigned to go had let her have their dragon for a while. "but I'm sure that we can work together on this for the short time we are together. Right?"

The dragon let out more of a scared whimper than a yes. Astrid deadpanned, straightening as she whipped around to face Snotlout. "This isn't going to work." She said flatly, her eyes narrowing slowly. Snotlout blinked, eyeing the smaller dragon with a crooked smile. Everyone in the village knew of Astrid's low tolerance and patience. And it was pretty obvious that not just any dragon would do.

"Too bad your stuck with him." The smart remark from Snotlout earned him a good punch in the face. Astrid glared Hiccup's cousin as he fell off-balance, toppling from his perch on Hookfang and falling back down to the ground. Hookfang blinked slowly, turning to look down at her rider decisively for a moment or two before just turning back to face the front, not paying any mind to what Snotlout was doing. The teen huffed loudly, getting back on Hookfang with a sour look as he glared at Astrid. The girl opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off as a loud shout sounded to the side.

Turning her head over, Astrid caught sight of a smallish girl racing forward, puffing loudly by the time she skidded to a stop in the throng of the dragon party. Astrid watched, mildly interested as the girl straightened to look over at Stoick. "Can I come too?" She managed, wincing as she held her side tightly. Stoick seemed lost for a moment, looking down at her as if he couldn't place her name.

It wasn't as if Astrid was friends with the girl. She was just a girl in the Viking Training program, she probably didn't even know Astrid's name. But she spoke up anyway, making it so that she could be heard throughout the group. "Hi, Jen." She called in something of a dead-tone. This seemed to bring back some of Stoick's memories, and he looked at the girl thoughtfully.

"I promise I wont cause trouble! You wont even know I'm there!" The girl begged, having recovered from her run. "I'll stay back and out of the way the whole time, I promise!" She put out her lower lip in a small pout. "I just wanna do something other than learn that my dragon can't go to the bathroom in the kitchen. I know that already."

The adults surveying the sight shifted and murmured uncomfortably to one another, troubled eyes trained on the smaller girl. She seemed unaware of the eyes though, a large smile pasted on her face as she looked hopefully at Stoick. The leader still seemed a bit lost, staring blankly at the smaller one for a moment. Astrid could finally see something of a resemblance between Hiccup and his father for the first and briefest moment of time. Stoick had the same blank look on his face that Hiccup got whenever he didn't know what to do. But Stoick recovered quickly, shaking himself somewhat as he looked decisively down at the girl. Silence stretched on for a moment or two before he spoke. "Do you have a dragon to ride?" He asked bluntly.

Jen blinked, cheeks flushing as she looked bashfully down at the ground. "I have a Terrible Terror." She offered weakly. The adults around her smiled somewhat down at her. Stoick on the other hand did not look pleased. He opened his mouth to speak, and Astrid looked at Jen sympathetically.

"She can ride on my dragon with me." Astrid offered, giving a small smile down to Jen as the girl twisted around to look at her. "I don't mind. I didn't have a dragon either until somebody offered one to me." She gestured down to the shy Monstrous Nightmare, who started under the eyes of so many people. She rolled her eyes in turn, but gave a small smile as Stoick gave a small nod.

"I suppose." He grunted, as graceful about it as he ever would get. Jen jumped with excitement, ducking her head as she gave a small bow to the chieftain. Smiling widely, she turned and raced back to Astrid, pausing for a small moment before she hoisted herself up next to Astrid. The two had to shuffle their position for a few minutes until they made enough room for each other and still be comfortable. Looking somewhat frazzled, the Monstrous Nightmare let out a small whine. Astrid decided that was what she was going to name it as of now for her. Frazzle.

"Thanks, Astrid." The blonde turned and looked at Jen as she spoke. The girl smiled toothily at the Viking, and Astrid returned the smile cheerfully. It wasn't much of a problem, and she didn't even know that Jen knew her name. It took Astrid a while to remember Jen's. But she supposed that with the whole battle against the Red Death, many many Vikings-In-Training would know all of their names. Even Fisheleg's. The thought made Astrid hold her head a little higher.

"It's fine." She said easily. "It wasn't anything big, really."

Snotlout rolled his eyes, turning Hookfang and starting back to where he had first been beside Fishlegs. "Careful." He warned, trotting away. Jen straightened, blinking with puzzlement as he went along. "You don't want her head to blow up and explode, do you?" Astrid looked at Snotlout sourly as he threw her a teasing look.

"I do not have a swelled head." Astrid snapped defensively, glaring at the boy.

"Really?" Snotlout asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. "'Oh, it's nothing really.'" He mimicked her higher voice as he looked up at the sky, folding his hands together. "'No biggie.' You sound like a prep."

"I am not a prep!" Astrid shouted hotly, pink in the cheeks as Snotlout rounded behind Fishlegs and his dragon. She folded her hands tightly over her chest, slouching as she glared over to the side. Jen seemed slightly out of place, sitting awkwardly back on Frazzle as she looked from one side to the other. Stoick had gotten up and was making his way to his own dragon.

"So…is he your boyfriend?" Jen asked after a moment.

"EW NO." Astrid shouted, making herself loud enough so that Snotlout could hear her.

"Don't hate me cause you ain't me!" Snotlout's shout reached Astrid's ears.

"Ain't isn't a word!" Astrid fumed back.

"…Astrid?" Jen asked hesitantly.

"And even if it was, then you're sentence would STILL be wrong! I hate you because you're annoying, not because I'm not you. If I WERE you, then I would hate you even more because I would never want to be you!" Astrid was out of breath by the time she finished, still red in the face as she glared in Snotlout's direction. Silence followed her words, and Astrid thought that Snotlout had grown quiet. But then loud laughter came from his direction, and the blonde groaned loudly.

"Astrid!" Jen said, louder this time. Astrid started from her mini-fight, turning to look with slight irritation at the girl. She opened her mouth to snap something at the younger girl, but broke off as her eyes widened. The clearing seemed a lot less…empty. She realized with horror that most of the crowd had already taken off.

Spinning around, Astrid pushed Frazzle's neck, grimacing as she did so. "GO!" She shouted, frustration mounting as Frazzle shrank back with a whimper. Astrid gave a loud yell as they slowly got alone on the ridge. "GO YOU STUPID ANIMAL!" She shouted in the dragon's ear. "WHO EVER HEARD OF A SCARED MONSTROUS NIGHTMARE, HUH?"

Jen blinked, shrinking back from her yelling just like that dragon. "…We're being left behind." She murmured, watching the cloud of dragons soaring into the sky. Looking around slowly, she hissed under her breath. "Maybe I still have time to choose another dragon to hitch a ride on." Taking a glance down at Frazzle she whispered. "Or a turtle. Anything that will move."

"This thing will move." Astrid muttered, drawing a hand through her hair as she started to push the dragon harder. "I will MAKE it move. HURRY UP YOU TURTLE, WE'RE BEING LEFT BEHIND! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE LEFT BEHIND? THAT'LL MEAN WE'LL BE ALONE. YOU DON'T WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE DO YOU?" As if in response to her question, Frazzle turned and looked over at the village, eyeing the people milling about the clearing happily.

Astrid was silent for a moment, staring ahead blankly without saying anything. The search party seemed to notice her absence, the dragons taking to hovering in the air as they turned back to look at her. Snotlout seemed to have been the one to bring up her lack of being there, giving her a small wave with a loud laugh that Astrid could hear from where she sat. Jen looked embarrassed where she sat, her head ducked as she fixed her gaze on the ground.

Grinding her teeth together, Astrid narrowed her eyes in anger. She refused to be shown this way in front of the entire village. She deserved to be going in with the search party to find Hiccup, and she could feel the way that Hiccup was slowly getting farther and farther away from her. Tightening her grip on the dragon, Astrid felt her other side coming into view. The side that she had when she was in dragon training and when she learned to kill dragons. The side she had before Hiccup showed her the other, less ugly side.

"Listen, Frazzle." She hissed through clenched teeth. The dragon shifted at the angry tone in her voice. "If you do not get off of this ground in the next SECOND, I will personally take you to the other side of the island, take a spear, cut off your foot and then SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT. SO YOU CAN CHOOSE WHETHER OR NOT YOU WANT TO GET OFF YOUR BUTT RIGHT NOW AND GET INTO THE AIR, OR KEEP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WATCH AS I DISSASEMBLE YOU!"

Frazzle let out a strained scream, wriggling as it launched itself into the air clumsily. Astrid had to hold on tightly in order to stay on, and she felt Jen wrap her arms around her waist with a choke-hold. Frazzle was a lot faster than Astrid had thought, and the Nightmare shot past the group of Vikings in the air, shooting past even Stoick as Astrid and Jen made their way to the front.

"Wow!" Jen said excitedly, watching as the other people whipped back around and rocketed forward to try and catch up to them. Hair waving in the wind, she gave out a high-pitched laugh as she leaned over to look at Astrid. "You sure know what to do when it comes to dragons!"

Astrid smirked where she sat. "I guess I must have picked something up from Hiccup!" She yelled back, a laugh bubbling up in her throat. "That or it's just woman's intuition!"

"I didn't know intuition included cutting off thing's legs!" Jen yelled, frowning.

"Well…it does now!"

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A/N: I hope you like a lot! I have to go, a new friend is coming over and I'm really excited!

I hope I get a lot of reviews! Reviews make me more excited to update!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! I loved each and every one of them~ ^^

Anyway, it took a while for me to yell my sister off of the computer, but I did it! I pulled through bravely so that I could come on and write out another chapter for you all! You all love me, right? You'd better. And I also went back and changed chapter eight so that the island was kind of closer to Berk (the island that the Night Furies are on) because I watched Gift of the Night Fury again, and I was sort of puzzled.

Because on the same day Hiccup left (being carried away by Meatlug) he got to an island that looked very hot and…not winter. SO, I figured that since the Night Fury island had snow on it still, I went back and fixed that. You know what that means? HICCUP ARRIVES! YOU ARE ALL SO EXCITED.

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"I wonder if dropping you from this height would be enough to kill you." Hiccup said flatly, eyes dull as his pupils flitted back and forth. Ludi mewed loudly in reply, hoping from one side of Stormfly's head to the other, tail lashing with excitement as she did so. Her amber eyes sparkled with humor, and to Hiccup's surprise, Stormfly didn't seem at all bugged by having the cat jumping up and down on her. She seemed content actually as she flew forward almost lazily.

The sun was slowly setting down into the horizon behind Hiccup, and he could feel the heat of the day slowly ebbing to a cold chill. He tightened his vest around him almost unconsciously, eyeing the expanse of frozen ice underneath him. "I can't believe we aren't there yet." He mumbled. Ludi started, jerking around and looking back over at the human as he tapped one finger against his head thoughtfully. "Maybe we should just stop right now. It wouldn't do any harm to stop early." He looked over his shoulder decisively at the setting sun. "But we still have some light to keep on going."

Straightening, Ludi lifted her head and looked forward, sitting upright neatly and wrapping her tail over her paws tightly. Her amber eyes narrowed slightly, and she let out a small mew as she shuffled her paws anxiously. In the fading light, she had to blink quite a few times before her eyes adjusted to the gloom. On the rise of the ice, Ludi's ears perked as she could barley make out a small dot of land.

It was the only island that Ludi could see near them, and her eyes gleamed as she turned back excitedly to face Hiccup. Even if it wasn't the island Hiccup was looking for, it had to be better than sleeping on the ice. Last night had been too cold for Ludi to stand it, and she had patience for…most…some things. Some things. She had patience for some things. Pausing for a moment, she lost her train of thought, leaving her staring at Hiccup with a blank look on her face.

Hiccup blinked rapidly, "What?" He asked, clearly confused by her sudden stillness.

Shaking herself, Ludi let out a loud meow, pointing her tail behind her rapidly. Leaning over to the side, Hiccup tilted his head, squinting as he tried to see what had caught her attention. "I don't see anything." He said, looking back down at her. But she only glared at him, pointing harder as she turned around and looked over at the island that was now getting closer and closer to them.

She wished for once that Hiccup could understand her. Usually she was grateful for that fact, considering she could say anything she wanted to him and he would never be the wiser. It was fun most of the time, but right now she realized why humans talked to each other so much. Humans were so thick-headed that they couldn't figure out what you meant without being told directly. The thought made her puff up slightly.

Stormfly seemed to have caught on at least, giving a trill as she pushed herself forward, increasing their speed as Hiccup let out a gasp of surprise. Holding on tighter to the dragon, Ludi nodded once as Hiccup finally saw what was going on. Slowly, a small smile worked its way onto his face. Ludi purred warmly, getting to her feet one last time as she made her way back, jumping onto Hiccup's lap and settling down with a drowsy blink.

Hiccup stroked the small thing's fur down softly, giving her a smile as he did so. "Every time I get annoyed with you, you seemed to know just how to make me happy again. Don't you?" Ludi responded by pushing her paws into his stomach, trying to find a better position to lay on. "You know I'm just going to get up in five seconds?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Ludi didn't even bother to do anything to show that she heard.

Hiccup turned his attention back up, watching with slight nervousness as the island got closer and closer. He didn't even know whether or not this was the right island. It was the only island that he had seen so far, everything else had been ice. He had to admit, it would have been smart for dragons to set their home here. It was separated from everything else, and it took a journey to get here.

Still, he made a mental note in the back of his mind to not get too excited. But then again, that would be easy. He wasn't exactly excited on finding Toothless. He was yearning to see his friend again, but he would still not like him. Hiccup hadn't actually made a plan on what to do when he met Toothless again. Besides getting eaten. But he supposed that plan would be trash anyway.

Ludi didn't seem bothered by it. It didn't exactly matter whether or not she knew what was going on, Hiccup still envied that of her. Ludi had the kind of personality that Hiccup wished to have. The cat was brave, uncaring, and doesn't ever hesitate to leap into something with all four paws. Hiccup would rather stay at home. Which brought him to the question of why he ever started out here in the first place.

He really shouldn't think, it made him sound stupid.

"Alright, Stormfly." Hiccup whispered tensely, wincing slightly. "Let's land." The Nadder didn't hesitate as she leaned forward, folding her wings tighter to her body as she swooped down to the island. The ground got closer and closer to them, and the cold wind of night clawed at Hiccup's clothes as he shivered. Ludi still was oblivious to the world, her eyes closed as she curled up comfortably against Hiccup, her purr being able to be heard even over the wind.

Stormfly hit the ground neatly, with barley a thump to show for it. Hiccup stayed still for a few moments, eyeing the space around him. There were a few trees that dotted the landscape around him, a small forest framing the outer part of the island. Through the tree line, Hiccup's jaw went slack as he spotted what was in the center. He must have not been paying attention to the size of the island when he was flying, for there was a large, hilly mountain stationed in the center.

It looked too steep to climb up though. Hiccup's head tilted to the side, and he shuffled over to slide off of Stormfly, landing awkwardly as he wavered slightly. Collecting himself, Hiccup stood silent, staring curiously at the mountain without making a noise. Ludi pushed herself up with a snort, turning and leaping up to rest on Hiccup's shoulder in her usual perch. She watched the mountain with wide eyes, seeming to sparkle as she wriggled happily. It was all an adventure to her.

Turning around, Hiccup started to make quick work in untying the bags from Stormfly, placing them on the ground with care as he did so. Stormfly let out a tired huff, lying down on the grass gratefully as she stretched her wings out with a yawn. Smiling and murmuring out praise, Hiccup rubbed her head for a moment or two, the bags of supplies strewn out around them. Ludi looked slightly put-out, and she let out an irritated mew as she looked crossly down at the ground.

"I think I'm going to go scout the place out." Hiccup said after a while. Stormfly and Ludi both perked up at his words. "I wont be long, I just want to make sure that we're alone right now. It looked pretty empty from the air, but I like to believe in double-checking." Pushing himself off of the ground, Hiccup looked over down at Ludi, who still remained on his shoulder. "You can get down, I wont be long." He offered.

But Ludi stubbornly hung on, hunching over as she did so. "Well, then, I'll be back Stormfly!" Hiccup called. But the Nadder wasn't paying attention. Her head was raised and she was stared intently across the ice, not even blinking as she did so. Hesitating for a moment, Hiccup turned back and made his way through the line of trees.

The mountain started a ways off from where Hiccup stood, the only thing separating the two was a large flat moor. His feet barely made a noise on the springy grass, and Hiccup found himself walking silently for what seemed like the first time ever. Usually it was broken by the metal sound on his prosthetic, but there wasn't even a crunch.

Ludi looked with narrowed eyes down at the ground, almost like she were suspicious of it. Gathering herself, she sprang down from Hiccup's shoulder, lancing on all four paws on the ground. Tail lashing from side to side, she stood tensely, ears flickering back and forth. Hiccup opened his mouth to say something to her, but didn't get a chance to. Ludi bolted to the right, feet pounding on the ground as she disappeared in an instant.

Hiccup was left standing alone, and he felt himself stiffen. He could feel something trained on him, the paranoid feeling you get when you are being watched. Turning around slowly, Hiccup expected to see somebody behind him, but blinked as he saw nothing seemed to be there. Unnerved, the teen gripped his other arm tightly, rubbing it slowly as his eyes darted back and forth. "…Ludi?" He whispered, looking around quickly. "Ludi, where did you go? Come back."

The cat made no appearance. Hiccup shifted uncomfortably, seriously debating whether or not to go back and stay by Stormfly. It probably would have been smarter to have her come with him as a sense of protection. He didn't know what was on this island, he should have been smarter than this. A rustle in the bushes made him spin around once more, heart pounding. But nothing was there yet again. A flash of movement made him shrink back. He turned, ready to run back to Stormfly, when Ludi came crashing forward behind him. She let out a mew that was slightly muffled, Hiccup jumping nearly out of his skin as she did so. Whirling around, Hiccup opened his mouth to say something sharp to her, but immediately stopped, straightening as he looked at Ludi with puzzlement.

In the cat's mouth hung a dead rabbit that was nearly as big as her. Her amber eyes gleamed with pride as she dropped it at Hiccup's feet, purring loudly as she looked up expectantly. Blinking rapidly, Hiccup stared down uncomprehendingly at the dead scrap. "…Good job?" He offered weakly.

Ludi opened her mouth to meow something, but Hiccup stiffened as he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Leaning down, he grabbed Ludi swiftly, clamping her mouth shut as she tried to meow. Rushing to the side, Hiccup pressed his side against an oak tree, craning forward and looking out to the side with wide eyes.

It couldn't be possible. It wasn't possible. A Night Fury. It was an unfamiliar one, but it was accompanied by another. Hiccup took in a sharp breath as he caught sight of the creatures, heart pounding unevenly against his ribs as he watched them. They seemed to be angry, their tails lashing back and forth as they growled to one another. They were rounding the corner of the mountain, and Hiccup let out a quiet huff of frustration as they started to get out of his sight.

Biting his lip tightly, Hiccup dashed forward silently, Ludi being jostled around with his hands still over her mouth as he did so. The Viking skidded to a stop as he saw the Night Furies again, narrowing his eyes as he watched them. They had stopped where they stood, the first one of them turning and vanishing into the mountain. Hiccup blinked with surprise as he saw a small opening, a cave. Looking at the too-steep-to-climb mountain, Hiccup realized that there must be something inside rather than out. "Their nest." He whispered.

As soon as he did that, the second Night Fury's head shot up, the dragon whirling around to look back at him with dilated pupils. Hiccup gasped, flattening himself to the tree as he shut his eyes closed tightly. Ludi blinked, finally having grasped the theme that she was being muffled for a reason. She shrank back against Hiccup, tail fluffing out to make it look twice its normal size.

Seconds seemed like hours, but when Hiccup finally worked up the nerve to check if the dragon was gone, the hill was empty once more. Breathing out slowly, he realized that he had been shaking. Since when had he grown to fear unknown dragons? Usually he tried to befriend them at once, the thought making his heart sink down to his stomach.

He pushed himself away from the tree, letting go of Ludi's mouth as he did so. The cat threw him a look, scrambling up to sit on his shoulder once more. Almost on instinct, the cat leaned down and started to lick her rumpled fur, smoothing her nerves from before. Hiccup was about to turn, when he paused, looking over at the small cave opening thoughtfully.

Was that were Toothless was? The thought made Hiccup cringe inwardly, wincing slightly as he thought of the dark caverns that resided in caves. Darkness was not something on Hiccup's favorite things list, it was somewhere on the I'd-rather-not list, which -he had to admit- was much longer than the first. But he had come out here with his mind made up to find Toothless. If he had to stumble around in the dark for hours, so be it.

He glanced up at the sky, and realized that the sun had set a long time ago. Hiccup didn't even notice the darkness already around him. "Might as well wait for light." He grumbled, Ludi giving a chirp of agreement. The Viking turned without hesitation, walking back the way he had come quicker than usual. On the way back, Ludi sprang down from his shoulder once more to take her killed rabbit back in her jaws, walking beside Hiccup with both nose and tail raised in pride.

Hiccup fingered the edge of his tunic worriedly, looking on ahead with anxiousness. Something didn't feel right, and as much as he tried to put a finger on it, Hiccup couldn't realize what that thing was. It was only when they got back to where they had left all of their supplies and things, when Hiccup finally named what was wrong.

Stormfly was gone.

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Asher and Flightwing crashed into the cave, eyes wide with fear and anger. Their sudden entrance made Toothless jerk his head up, eyes widening as he threw a startled glance over at Nightflight. The female had been playing a game of tag with Shadowclaw, but her smile quickly faded as she looked at the two dragons grimly.

She turned, giving Shadowclaw a warm smile. "You go back to bed, little one." She purred. "It's getting dark out, and you mustn't worry your mother. We can play tomorrow, alright?" Not even giving the child a chance to object, Nightflight turned and paced forward briskly, coming to a stop beside Toothless.

Toothless pushed himself up to a sitting position, ears flicking back and forth as he looked at the two expectantly. Nightflight waited until Shadowclaw reluctantly slunk back to the nursery before she spoke. "What is it?" Her tone was grave, and Toothless shifted uneasily where he sat.

Asher spoke up for Flightwing. "There's a human here." He said. All around the cave, gasps of shock and cries of outrage went through the crowd, almost deafening as Toothless's ears shrank back to his head. Asher lifted his tail for silence, but it was a while before they finally quieted down. "It is a small one, but there might be others coming after him. He has found where our nest lies."

"We have to kill it!" Flash yelled from the side of the cave.

"Are you sure there are others?" Amberfoot shouted uncertainly.

"What about the children? Are they safe?" Cheese wailed.

"SILENCE." Flightwing thundered. Immediately the crowd became quiet. "We are not sure what it wants, or whether or not it is even staying here. It had another dragon, maybe it is just passing through. We do want to give away anything more than we already have, so we will wait. We will wait to see what it is planning to do. Until then, everyone is to stay in the cave! We have enough food to last us some time. It might be small, but others may be waiting to ambush. It might be a trick."

Toothless shuffled his feet on the ground as the crowd slowly began to break off, getting together and speaking in hushed voices. Nightflight's eyes were filled with fear as she looked out to where the cave sloped down to the entrance, her hackles raised as she stared. Toothless's ears flattened to his head, and he felt glares and icy stares trained on him.

Not knowing what else to do, he turned and walked off into one of the separate tunnels to spread the news.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: It's getting close to the holidays!

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"What do we do now? We're stuck here! Maybe Stormfly left to get something, she'll be back. I'm sure of it. Yeah. She just went to check something out on the island and then she'll return. I mean- come on. It's not like she went off an abandoned us here! Stormfly doesn't do stuff like that! Right? Stormfly doesn't do stuff like that, right Ludi?"

Ludi started as she heard her name, snapping out of her doze as she blinked rapidly up at Hiccup. The boy had been pacing and mumbling to himself for over an hour, glancing over at the spot where Stormfly had once been. The kitten had been as surprised as Hiccup had been when they came back to see the dragon gone. For a while, she joined in his worried state, but after a few minutes she decided to go ahead and eat her rabbit that she caught. Then she lied down, and she just got tired from watching Hiccup pace back and forth.

Nevertheless, she let out a small mew to show that she was listening, straightening as she shook herself out of her small daze. With a flick of her ears, Ludi turned around to look up at the sky. The sun had been long gone by now, and the moon was now fully up in the sky, shedding its cold light across the island. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, although it did little to keep Ludi awake. The dull light was making her sleepy, and she wondered how in the world Hiccup could be so awake right now. Even if the dragon had been gone.

Hiccup let out a small sigh, stopping for what seemed like the first time in forever. His shoulders slumped, and he raised his head to look over his shoulder at the line of trees. He seemed to be thinking hard, and Ludi let out a small trill after a while, to show that she was still there. Hiccup blew out his cheeks, slouching visibly before he turned back to her. "We might as well wait for morning, like I said before."

Ludi blinked, jumping down from the rock she was sitting on and landing on the ground quietly. Tail high in the air, she bounded forward, gathering under herself and springing forward to pounce on the bag that was filled with blankets. It was a rather large bag, and it was soft and cushiony to the touch. Her eyes gleamed and she started to bounce back and forth on the soft fabric.

Hiccup made a noise of frustration, leaning down and picking her up by the scruff. Rather than curling up on instinct like she did when she was kitten, she let out an earsplitting yowl, trying to wriggle and worm her way out from his grasp. "Sorry! Sorry!" He said quickly, jumping as he fixed his arms to hold her correctly. Ludi threw him a withering look, and he flashed her an apologetic smile before he leaned down and opened up the bag wide.

Taking out the blankets carefully, he arranged them neatly on the grass. Ludi was the first to land on the bed, and she immediately purred loudly, settling down and curling up into a small ball. She looked tired and exhausted, ready for sleep as she tucked her nose under her paw. Hiccup gave her a warm smile, settling down carefully around her. Leaning over, he grabbed the other blanket and tucked it around both himself and Ludi.

The cat shuffled to the side, pressing against Hiccup as she closed her eyes contentedly. Leaning on the palm of his hand, Hiccup looked down at the silver fluff ball with a smile. He reached over and scratched her head gently, earning a large purr from the cat. She wasn't the little kitten that Hiccup had gotten so long ago, she was getting bigger every day and soon Hiccup wouldn't be able to keep her on his shoulder.

The thought made a strike of sadness to shake him. He hadn't even wanted this cat when he had first gotten her, but now the very thought of her getting too big for him made him want to hold her tightly now. Which he couldn't do of course. Not unless he wanted a large scratch across his forehead. But still, the image of the small scrap of fur he had first seen etched in his mind as he looked down at Ludi warmly. "You're a handful, you know that?" He asked softly, dropping his hand and settling down to lie beside the cat.

Ludi flicked her tail crossly in an answer, a soft chuckle finding its way from Hiccup.

Eyes narrowing slightly, the boy looked over once more to the line of trees. Despite himself, a twinge on nervousness started in his stomach, making him cringe. The dragons he had seen seemed to be cross at finding him here, and he wondered how many others were here too. If there were any others. Would Toothless be one of those others? It could be possible…but Hiccup didn't know whether or not he would be jumping into something that didn't even mean anything. If Toothless was here, he might stand a chance. But his luck said something else, making him frown.

Eyeing Ludi's curled-up form, he decided he would just have to wing it like Astrid. If she could do it, than so could he. After all, most of what he did while battling the Red Death had been him winging it. He wouldn't ever tell Toothless that though. "When I find him, I wont tell him." Hiccup corrected himself aloud. Ludi stirred at the sound of his voice, but didn't look up. Her eyes fluttered slightly, she still remained closed. After a while, the sound of soft snoring started to rise from her sleeping form.

Glancing over one last time at the mountain in the distance, Hiccup finally pushed down the anxiousness in his stomach and forced himself to slow his breathing, closing his eyes tightly as he slung one hand over Ludi comfortingly. Slowing his breath, he tried to relax and push away any other worries he had cramped into his head. He had to admit, now he realized how tired he had been before. Knowing that fact, he slipped quicker into unconsciousness, glad of the distraction from all of the worry and drama that had taken hold of his life these past four weeks.

It was quite a relief from everything else. Just him and Ludi, curled up together in the shadow of a few trees.

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The sun came up sooner than Hiccup could think. His eyes opened blearily against the sharp light, and he scowled deeply. Reaching up, he rubbed his eyes clear roughly, grumbling as he did so. Pushing himself up slowly, he grimaced as he looked around at the unfamiliar land around him. For a moment, he forgot where he was, blinking as he looked around with a puzzled expression. But then realization slammed into him, and he started as intelligence flooded back into his eyes.

Noticing something that was missing, Hiccup looked around wildly, heart hammering against his chest. "Ludi?" He called, the small ball of fluff having gone amiss from the scene. "Ludi where did you go?" He started to panic, and he threw the covers off of him rapidly, standing up shakily as he started to search the small clearing with haste, shaking as he did so. "Ludi! Ludi, where are you!" He raised his voice against himself, thoughts not even flashing to whether or not the dragons would hear him and start running for him. All he wanted was to find the small cat before anything could happen. The thought of something bad happening to her made him search faster, grabbing the blankets and throwing them in the air, opening each and every bag that was scattered around. "LUDI!"

A small meow made him spin around, eyes wide with fear and worry. Ludi sat on the ground neatly, head tilted to the side as she looked at Hiccup like he was stupid. By her feet, were two large rabbits, freshly killed with what looked like it to be a neat slice. The cat eyed him cautiously for a moment or two, surveying the messed up camping spot for a moment before she nudged one of the rabbits over to Hiccup with pride shining in her eyes.

Hiccup stood tensely for a long time, deadpanning at the cat as he saw the wrecked place out of the corner of his eye. Silence followed the scene, Ludi looking up happily at Hiccup where she sat, and Hiccup glaring down at the small cat that seemed to know each and every way to get under his skin. "…Alright." Hiccup sighed, sitting down and looking down at the rabbit that was now breakfast.

Ludi settled down and started to reach down to eat her catch, but Hiccup leaned forward quickly, snatching the food away from her before she could do anything. Ludi let out a sharp meow of protest, glaring up at him hotly. But Hiccup paid no mind, putting the two rabbits together as he stood up. "I'm going to cook them, so that it might not be as disgusting." Ludi shot him another look as he went to find sticks for the fire, but didn't make a move to go over to her food anymore.

It took a total of twenty minutes for Hiccup to start the fire, and even longer to skin the rabbit and cook it. All the while, Ludi sat over to the side like a vulture, glaring at him menacingly as he went about his business. Hiccup did his best to ignore her, and by the time the food was done and cooked (to the best of his ability) he more or less threw the rabbit over at Ludi. He didn't look back, but he could feel another glare thrown at him from the cat before she started to eat.

Hiccup had never actually eaten rabbit before, he mostly ate fish and deer and along the lines of that. That was why he was so surprised that it actually tasted pretty good. Although it was small. The rabbit was gone in an instant it seemed, but it took off the edge of his hunger, and he stood up at once, looking over at the mountain with a large sigh. Now or never he guessed.

Ludi finished her meal soon after him, getting up and jumping up to his shoulder like she usually did. Hiccup was about to walk forward, but hesitated, throwing a look over his shoulder at the discarded bags. Leaning down, he picked up one of the larger ones, looking back at Ludi as he did so. "Get in." He said, Ludi immediately wrinkling her nose up in response. "Come on, it's a cave. You aren't going to be able to stay on my shoulder, and I would like it if you would stay with me for this one. Hopefully it wont be for long, and you'll be able to get out soon. If Stormfly was still here, you might have just stayed here with her." He added as an afterthought. "Just get in, and I promise that when we get home you can share my food for a week."

Ludi paused for a moment, almost like she was weighing her options. It seemed like an eternity before she finally gave in, bunching her muscles under herself and jumping down into the bag neatly. Pushing herself up, she stood shakily on her hind legs, pushing her paws out to hold onto the edge of the bag as she stuck her head out, blinking her cuteness meter stare up at Hiccup.

Snorting, Hiccup slung the bag over his shoulder carefully so that Ludi was facing the right way. Taking one more glance over the still-messed-up clearing, he turned around and squeezed his way out of the tree line and appeared on the moor once more. Taking a moment to remember the way he had gone, he turned and retraced his steps back to where the mountain caved in to a tunnel. That was the best he could do now.

"Okay, Ludi." Hiccup said, his voice dropping to a whisper as he stood in front of the entrance. The cave looked dark and damp, a cold air reaching Hiccup as he shivered slightly. "We have to be quiet now, okay? Can you do that?" The response was a small shifting noise as Ludi shuffled around in her bag. She seemed to be clearly displeased with the small space, but willing to go along as usual.

Blowing out slowly, Hiccup's hands balled into fists at his sides, and he slowly narrowed his eyes. "I can do this." He whispered to himself, closing his eyes tightly. Heat rushed over him as he thought he heard a low growl from inside the dark area. He didn't do dark areas. Or growling noises coming from inside that dark area. Those were two very different things and should never be associated with each other. It only meant trouble.

Legs seeming to act on their own, Hiccup edged forward, getting closer to the cave little by little. He felt something stir behind him, and he realized that Ludi was shaking. She let out a small, almost inaudible mew of distress, and Hiccup reached back to give her head a small pat of reassurance. He thought of Toothless, and knew that in this situation, if it were him that was in trouble instead of the dragon, Toothless would be charging into the cave without a second thought.

Of course, Toothless could breathe fire.

He shook himself. That didn't matter. It was the thought that counted, and he took in another sharp breath as he started to quicken his pace. He was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and he had been the one to defeat the Red Death. With Toothless beside him. SHUT UP. Hiccup hit the side of his head that the thought came from, shaking himself as he narrowed his eyes. Ludi was jarred from all of the movement, wishing that she could be on Hiccup's shoulder instead of in a bag tied to his back.

Steps becoming bigger as time went on Hiccup stepped into the cave and started forward, the darkness swallowing his shape up in mere seconds.

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A/N: Have a holly jolly Christmas!


	19. Chapter 19

His metal leg making sharp clanging sounds against the rock floor of the cave, Hiccup's anxiousness slowly mounted as the entrance of the cave got farther and farther away from him. Ludi had grown immensely silent, and when the boy glanced back over at her, he saw that she retreated back inside the bag, her head having disappeared from sight. The walls of the cave were narrow, and Hiccup had to make quiet care of it to make sure that Ludi did not bang into any walls. It was just big enough for a Night Fury to squeeze through, and surprisingly, Night Furies were rather small for being the toughest dragons out there.

Hiccup's heartbeat was so fast that he wondered if the dragons could hear it from where they were, wherever they were. The blood roared in his ears, and again, he wondered when he had gotten so afraid of dragons. He wasn't supposed to be afraid of them, after all, he was the person people went to when they had issues needing to be solved with their own dragons. But right now, he'd rather be six feet underground than be in this small cave. The image of a dragon leaping out at him randomly made his heart speed up even more, if that were even possible. He wondered if Ludi could hear his rapid heartbeat. If she was as scared as he was.

Nothing usually scared Ludi, not even Gobber. And let's face it, Gobber came up a little short when it came to animals. And therapy. Sure, she might have gotten a little weary around Hiccup's father, who dealt with her a little rougher than people normally did, but when it came to adventure, she was usually all for it. She even snuck into the blanket bag to force Hiccup to take her with him on this journey. And now she was acting scared of the cave. It was something that both scared and worried Hiccup as he went along the path of the cave.

Silence was heavy in the cavern, and he could literally feel it pressing down on him. Shifting slightly, Hiccup reached down while he walked and started to thumb the edge of his tunic worriedly, green eyes trying to adjust of the gloom of the cave. It was nearly pitch black in here, and Hiccup knew that he would just end up stumbling around soon, by the way it was getting darker. He didn't see the walls of the cave, but he reached out to feel the slimy wall, using it as a guide for himself as he continued to walk.

Swallowing uncomfortably, Hiccup opened his mouth. His voice came out as a small whisper, hoarse and quiet. "Toothless?" He whispered, voice slightly shaky. He paused for a moment or two, standing in the blackness expectantly, almost like he was waiting for Toothless to charge back up to him. But the only thing that came back to him was the echo of his own voice, repeating his plea to him. "Toothless…?"

He stopped suddenly, blinking rapidly as he looked blankly at what was in front of him. Three tunnels branched off, one going straight, another going to the side, and another sloping down. Hiccup made a face, looking between one and the other, completely at a loss of which way to go. Ludi squeaked where she lied in the bag, forcing her head out once more to see what the problem was. Her amber eyes glowed in the darkness, and she looked from one tunnel to the other carefully. She let out a small, confused mew, which bounced back to her in an echo, making her start as she looked around for the other cat who replied to her.

"Which way?" Hiccup mumbled worriedly, reaching up and rubbing his head sorely. "One of them might lead to a dead end and then we'll be lost forever." The meow he got back from Ludi showed that she wasn't exactly thrilled by that plan. Looking from one tunnel to the other carefully, Hiccup mulled over his choices. The one that led down wouldn't be his choice, it was bad enough to be in a cave, but to be in one that started going down deeper, getting darker and darker? Nope.

The one that went to the side wouldn't be long before yet another option of directions would come up. Since it was retracing the way back by going to the right, eventually it would have to turn left to stay with the mountain. It would be full of twists and turns, and Hiccup felt that if he went that way, he would surely get lost in a matter of minutes. It was best that he kept straight. That way if he got lost, he'd just have to turn around and start his way back the way he had come.

Deciding that was the best he could do right now, Hiccup made his way forward, taking the tunnel in the center as he continued his trek. Ludi seemed to adjusting ever so slowly to the new underground land, head peeking out slightly from the lid of the bag. Her ears flicked as she saw the wall of the cave, and -glancing over at Hiccup- she pried out one paw to touch the slippery-feeling surface. Her ears perked with interest at the touch, and she let out a small mew.

Immediately, the sound amplified in the darkness. Hiccup jumped nearly out of his skin as the meow turned into a loud sound, bouncing off of the walls of the cave and coming back to Hiccup with full-force. The teen covered his eyes tightly, a grimace coming on his face as he flinched away from the noise. Ludi seemed to realize the mistake she had made, diving back into her bag without any hesitation. Her tail was bushed up with fright, making it look ten times as big, and if it were any other time, Hiccup would have laughed at the sight. But all he could do was crack open one eye slowly, looking around the dark cave for a sign of an attacker of some sort.

When nothing seemed entirely wrong, Hiccup relaxed slowly, swallowing the lump in his throat as he did so. Taking in a deep, slightly-calming breath, Hiccup started forward once more, edging forward nervously as his heart beat unevenly against his chest. His thoughts raced a mile a minute as his eyes darted back and forth across the cavern. He couldn't see anything, all he could do was put one hand on the wall of the cave and hope that no other options of a trail came up again. Without anything to light his way, Hiccup was virtually blind all the way down here, and he swore that he could see something that looked a lot like waves in front of his vision. Shaking his head to try and clear it, Hiccup tried to squint his eyes in order to see. It did little to nothing to help him. Well…it did nothing.

"Toothless?" He whispered harshly, wincing slightly as his voice amplified in the cave. "Are you here, buddy?" He stopped in his tracks, blinking slowly as he reached up and rubbed his eyes roughly. "Are you anywhere in here?" He asked, voice getting louder as he started forward again. Ludi's amber eyes peered out from the bag slowly, blinking rapidly as she looked to and fro from the cave walls.

Hiccup opened his mouth to call once more, but stopped, jumping out of his skin as Ludi started to squeal loudly. Spinning around foolishly, Hiccup tried to reach back and clamp her mouth shut, Hiccup's heart started to pick up as she wriggled away from him, still squalling as loud as she could. "Ludi!" He snapped softly, making a gesture for her to shush. It was only when he stopped that he knew what had gotten her so worried. His eyes widened, and he froze instantly.

Two large green eyes were shining dimly in the gloom of the cave, shining like beam lights as they shone largely. Taking a hesitant step back, Hiccup gave a crooked smile, backing up against a cave wall as the eyes came closer. "H-Hi." He said nervously, flattening himself to the wall as he felt the wet surface slowly seep into his clothes, causing him to shiver. The green eyes narrowed, and Hiccup swallowed nervously as he heard a small growl, gradually getting louder as the eyes came closer to him. "Toothless?" He blurted out, trying to make himself breathe right and evenly. His eyes flashed down to the ground, and his heart froze as he caught sight of the dragon's tailfin, which was being illuminated ever so slightly by the dragon's eyes. There was no golden switch on there, it was a full tailfin. It wasn't Toothless.

Hiccup's eyes widened to be the size of dinner plates, and he quickly started to back away, stumbling slightly as he did so. "Crap." He whispered hoarsely, the dragon gathering itself to spring at him. Spinning around at the last minute, Hiccup quickened his pace frantically, breath coming in rapid gasps as he raced forward. The dragon let out an earsplitting roar, and Ludi let out a terrified squeal as she pressed herself against Hiccup, eyes shut tightly as she shivered with fear. Hiccup couldn't control himself either as he shook, hands trembling as he slipped and stumbled, trying to find his way by pressing his hand tightly to the wall.

Footsteps thundered past him, more quick than him and he realized with a sinking heart that he wasn't going fast enough. His prosthetic leg slowed him down, and pain was lancing up his side as he winced. He was blind in a place like this, and he didn't know where he was. Surely there had been more turns in this place that he had not been able to see. He was utterly lost and had no idea where he was. Where he could turn to if he needed to go back.

Glancing behind him, Hiccup let out a yell as he felt his foot hit something. Before he could do anything, he bowled forward, slamming into the ground and skidding painfully for a few more inches before he slammed into the wall, going limp as he shut his eyes tightly. He waited for the dragon to strike at him, but opened his eyes with confusion when nothing happened. He turned over to look behind him, and saw with wide eyes that the dragon had run forward. He either hadn't noticed that Hiccup had fallen, or something else that the boy didn't even want to consider.

Panting loudly, he pushed himself up, wincing as he reached back and rubbed his shoulder gently. It was burning from skidding on the ground, and he realized that it was started to ooze with small pinpricks of blood. Grimacing, he leaned over and pushed himself up slowly, still shaking as he tried to steady himself. Ludi poked her head out of the bag slowly, and when Hiccup glanced back at her, he blinked as he saw that she looked like an oversized cotton ball. Her fur was fluffed out in every which direction, amber eyes wide with fear as she shook back and forth with fright.

Taking in a deep breath, Hiccup went over to the side, feeling around and finding a new tunnel. Inching forward more carefully now, Hiccup felt that this tunnel was slowly going down. The farther along he went, the more he felt that the walls were starting to close in on him. Squeezing his eyes shut, Hiccup's sides started to scrape against the stone walls as the space got narrower and narrower. Ludi let out a cross mew as the bag was squeezed together, ears flicking with disdain as she narrowed her eyes at the human.

Pretty soon, moving became a chore for him to do. The walls were so close together, that Hiccup had to force his way through, taking a few minutes to even push himself a few inches. His back stung and he felt his hands burning from slipping on the rock face so often. He was in the middle of trying to slip in between two jutting rocks, when he suddenly stopped, eyes widening as he realized that he couldn't move.

Blinking rapidly, Hiccup tried to yank himself forward. In doing so, he only managed to scrape his back badly, the boy letting out a small squeak. Ludi blinked, assessing the situation with her large amber eyes carefully, blinking every so often. Finally, she jumped out from the bag, landing on one of the rocks, in which she sat down neatly, looking at Hiccup with wide eyes. The boy glared at her hotly, "What?" He hissed through clenched teeth. He had half a mind to slap her off of the rock, but he couldn't. His hands were pressed firmly against his sides by the rock.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, if you will.

Ludi blinked, leaning over and trying to push Hiccup over to the side. Her small claws pierced Hiccup's skin, and he immediately shook her off roughly. "Stop!" He hissed sharply, glaring at her. "I just have to-" He tried to wriggle forward, but stopped as pain lanced up his spine. Grimacing once more, he let out a small sigh, twisting his head back to look behind him curiously. "…I guess I have to go back." He whispered finally, not too keen on the long, narrow trek back. But at least there hadn't been any dragons there to meet him. He would be free from that thought at least.

Grinding his teeth together firmly, Hiccup started to push himself backwards, finding that it was much easier to do so. It still took him a lot more time and effort than it should have, and when he finally got out, he staggered, falling to the side and smacking his head on the cave floor painfully. Rubbing his sore spot roughly, Hiccup pushed himself up, one eye closed in pain. Ludi jumped back into the bag, satisfied with her small journey out.

Retracing his steps (or crawls) he finally made it back out to the cavern that he had first met the dragon (finally having room to breath). Blinking, Hiccup chose the other tunnel, grateful that this one was a lot roomier than the other. Eyeing the ends of the passageway nervously, Hiccup's feet scuffed on the ground loudly, his fake leg making a louder sound than that of his normal one. Soon, he started to shiver, and his breath rose in a large foggy cloud in front of his mouth. Teeth chattering, the sound seemed amplified in the silence of the cavern. It unnerved him, and he couldn't help but quicken his pace. "Toothless?" He whispered loudly. "Toothless, where are you?"

Something rustled behind him, and he immediately sunk down to the ground, covering his head with his hands as he braced himself for the leap of a dragon. But it never came. Perking up, Hiccup turned around slowly, eyes wide as he looked on stiffly. A giant dragon, a huge dragon, one with huge teeth, pointed and gleaming, hackles raised, ready to attack. A…a small dragon, a baby dragon.

He had been told that his imagination sometimes got the best of him. He relaxed, looking down carefully at the small thing. It look hardly bigger than a Terrible Terror, large green eyes shining like beams up at him as the thing let out a small, cautious chirp. "…Hey there." He whispered after a moment's pause. The thing eyed him carefully, not showing anything but interest as he looked at the human. It had obviously never seen something like him before, and before he knew it, his hand was inching over ever-so-slightly, reaching for the dragon's snout cautiously.

When he got too close, the dragon immediately dashed forward, jaws snapping in a nip. Hiccup's hand shot back just in time, escaping from the infant's jaws at the last moment. The thing seemed proud of itself as it set back, looking at Hiccup expectantly. As if it was waiting for the next move that he could bravely shake off.

Despite himself, Hiccup smiled crookedly. Ludi's head poked out of the bag, and she looked down curiously at the baby dragon. "It's alright." Hiccup whispered, reaching forward again. "I wont hurt you. I can be your friend." The dragon narrowed its eyes slowly as his hand got closer, but did not pull back this time. The Night Fury's head titled to the side slightly, and his tail gave a small lash. Hiccup breathed out slowly as he pressed his hand against the dragon's head comfortingly, smiling as he did so.

The baby dragon seemed puzzled by the small gesture, but when Hiccup pulled back, it seemed more interested now than before. And then, slowly, to Hiccup's utter astonishment, it smiled at him. It smiled at him. Toothless gums flashing over at him. Toothless. That was Toothless's smile. He was frozen, and barley even noticed when Ludi hopped out of the bag and looked at the dragon with a lour purr.

The baby chirped something at her, and the cat lashed her tail to the side. It almost seemed like they were talking to each other. The cat flattened herself to the floor, tail lashing as she bared her teeth. The dragon did the same, and the two got into something of a play fight. Hiccup was brought back to life as he saw the scene playing out, watching with wide eyes Ludi seemed to be winning.

The two seemed to be so absorbed in their fight, so it came as a surprise to Hiccup when the small dragon looked up, going still underneath Ludi as it looked at something behind Hiccup. The cat seemed disappointed at the lack of entertainment, ears flattening as she got back onto her haunches, looking the other way dejectedly. Confused by the dragon's behavior, Hiccup turned to see what it was looking at.

Hiccup's eyes got bigger as he saw what had caused the dragon to stop playing. Night Furies stood in each entrance of the tunnels, eyes like sunbeams shining over at Hiccup. They looked at the boy like he was attacking the smaller dragon, and in their eyes it must have seemed that way. Each dragon looked furious, teeth bared as they crouched to the ground. They growled loudly, their roars blending together into one loud sound that erupted in the cave.

The loud sound caused Ludi to jump, turning and ears flattening as she saw the sight. Her fur bushed out, and she let out a loud meow. Hiccup stood shakily, breath coming in rapid gasps as he tried to find something to do, somewhere to go. But when he looked over his shoulder, he saw the that way he had come was blocked by the dark dragons yet again.

"Ludi." Hiccup rasped. "Get in the bag."

When the cat remained still, Hiccup made a move to retrieve her quickly. But as soon as he moved, the Night Furies started to move also, making for him with claws bared. "LUDI GET IN THE BAG!" Hiccup screamed.

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A/N: I GOTTA RUN WISH ME LUCK AT THE BAND CONERT I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS!


	20. Chapter 20

It was…boring. Astrid was getting increasingly uncomfortable, shifting uneasily on Frazzle as she tried to get comfortable. Jen hadn't said a word, but Astrid could feel her gaze on her back as she stared intently at the older girl. The others around were also looking pretty bleak, looking at Stoick expectantly as they waited for the chief to do something. They had been flying for what seemed like forever, and Astrid was on-edge. They hadn't been getting anywhere, they had encountered absolutely no other islands.

She could feel the precious seconds ticking away that she wanted to cling to. She had no idea what Hiccup was doing right now, and what might be going on. She had a feeling that something wasn't right. She couldn't sit still, and she felt like something was happening that wasn't supposed to. She felt like Hiccup, having a weird feeling and going with it. Maybe more of him rubbed off on her than she was aware of.

The people in front looked pretty bleak to say the least. They all seemed to be somewhat impatient, and Astrid guessed that at least half of them were regretting coming out here. Maybe Jen would be put into that category, she had stopped talking a few hours ago. So far, she had taken to looking out over the frozen ocean with something close to boredom. Astrid felt responsible for this adventure, and she was frustrated as she saw that most of the people were letting all of the dragons do the work. The people who really were searching were at the front, and a group of people were blocking the blonde girl's way forward.

She slumped down where she sat, glaring down at Frazzle's back dejectedly. At least the dragon had stopped being to annoyingly-scared the whole time. There was that. She supposed that she would just have to look on the bright side of things for now. Hiccup was usually too much of an optimist, she wished he could be there to balance her out.

Maybe-

A loud roar made Astrid jump out of her skin, turning with wide eyes at the source of the noise. The other people around her jumped also, some even ducking out of habit. The dragons merely perked their ears, Hookfang and Meatlug both chirping with recognition. Astrid's eyes slowly widened, a large smile spreading over her face as she sat a little straighter. "STORMFLY!" She yelled happily, her familiar Nadder flapping furiously over to her.

The dragon looked worn-out, but she quipped loudly as she caught sight of her rider, flying over as she weaved through the others. One by one, the search party stopped, taking to hovering in the air as they watched Stormfly come to a stop in front of Astrid. The blonde hesitated for a moment before she looked behind her at Jen. "I'm going to jump onto Stormfly's back, you stay on Frazzle, okay?" She asked. The smaller girl's eyes widened with something close to fear as she eyed the jumpy dragon. Clearly staying on the weak Nightmare alone was not on her list of priorities. She opened her mouth to disagree, but Astrid was already standing up slowly, tongue sticking out as she braced herself.

Hiccup had done this so many times. She could do it too. Taking a deep breath, she jumped forward, the wind whooshing past her for a few rapid seconds before she landed neatly onto Stormfly's back. The dragon staggered slightly under her weight, but started up against nonetheless, looking over at Astrid happily as she did so. The girl chuckled, reaching down and patting the Nadder's neck affectionately. "There you are, girl." She cooed.

Suddenly, she looked up as she realized that Stoick had flown up to her, a frown creasing his face as he looked at Stormfly anxiously. "I thought you said that Hiccup had Stormfly." He said, blue eyes flickering over to meet her's. "Where's Hiccup?"

It took a moment for Astrid to realize what Stoick was talking about. But when she finally landed on it, her stomach dropped and fell down to splat on the ice. "Odin." She grumbled, leaning forward to look at Stormfly steadily. "Stormfly, take us to Hiccup. Now. It's important, girl."

The Nadder didn't seem too keen on flying all the way back to wherever she had come from, but she shook herself roughly, turning around to the other direction and starting back. Astrid glanced backwards to look at the others, and realized that they were all following her now. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she patted Stormfly once more on the neck, breathing out of her nose.

She wasn't nervous about being up front. She was worried about Hiccup.

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Ludi started, snapping out of her trance as she dove back into the cloth bag just as soon as the first Night Fury launched itself forward. Yelling loudly, Hiccup dropped to the ground, the dragon mistiming its jump as it smashed into the wall right behind it. The smaller dragon was wailing with fright and confusion, stumbling around as it looked from Hiccup to the other dragons. It seemed at a loss of what to do, and could only manage to walk in something of an oval as it yipped loudly.

"Shadowclaw!" Nightflight and Toothless were trying to shove their way through the others, Nightflight having been the one to call out. The other Night Furies were pressing forward, trying to get into the cavern as they pushed and shoved. Toothless had no idea what was happening as of right now. They had been playing hide-and-seek with Shadowclaw, when all of a sudden they heard a loud yell. Toothless had insisted they go and check it out.

Nightflight's ears flicked back and forth as she quickened her pace, Toothless stumbling after her. "We have to find Shadowclaw!" She yelled back at him. "He could be anywhere right now, and we have no idea what's going on!" Toothless gave a snort to show that he heard, frantic eyes already scanning the crowd.

The small dragon couldn't have gotten far. They had only counted to five.

"What's going on?" Toothless hollered to the nearest dragon he could find.

It was Asher. When the Night Fury turned, his eyes were like chips of ice. "The human!" He snarled. "He found his way in here. The ambush could come at any moment, we have to-"

"What ambush?" Toothless spat crossly. "We have no idea whether or not an ambush is coming even! We should be driving it out, not killing it! Has it done anything to us? We should let it go!"

The Night Fury's ears perked, eyes narrowing slowly. "So you support it?" He snarled.

Toothless opened his mouth to flash something back, when suddenly Nightflight zoomed forward to stand beside him, swinging her tail forward to clamp over Toothless's mouth. "Of course not, Asher." She said flatly, giving the dragon her own sharp glare. "Don't be any more stupid than you can help. We're just trying to find Shadowclaw."

Without another word, Nightflight spun around and marched back, Toothless shooting Asher one last glare before following suit. A yell from up ahead made the Night Fury stop, ears flicking up as he strained to hear over the chaos. "Search the cave! Make sure there are no others!" As soon as the words were spoken, more dragons started to turn and race back through the cave, pushing past Toothless rudely as they did so.

But it left more room to breathe. Toothless finally came out from the tunnel and made his way into the cavern. Fleetfoot, Flightwing, Mistyeyes, and Stormtail (gosh darn it suck at names) were the only ones left not counting Toothless and Nightflight. The were all furious, and Fleetfoot started to creep towards the small thing on the ground.

Toothless started as he realized that the small thing on the ground was actually the human. Odd. When he thought of humans, he always thought of burly, strong men that could snap a Gronckle's head off at birth. This thing was a twig! He looked like he could barley pick up a boulder without capsizing. He tilted his head to the side, slowing to a stop as he looked at the small thing with something close to sadness.

The thing reminded him a lot of Shadowclaw. It was way too small to be attacked, and Toothless opened his mouth to shout at Fleetfoot to stop, when he thought better of it, shutting his mouth with a snap. "I found him!" Nightflight puffed. Toothless started, turning around and blinking as Nightflight bounded forward, Shadowclaw in tow. "Should I take him back?"

A yell made Toothless whip back around, eyes wide. Fleetfoot had leaped forward, turning to the side and swinging his tail over to smack into the human's chest, sending the small thing toppling over, holding its stomach tightly. Toothless felt sick all of a sudden, grimacing as he watched the scene unfold. Fleetfoot jumped forward, pinning the human to the ground in between his claws as he roared loudly. The human flinched, curling in on himself as he covered his ears.

When Fleetfoot started to suck in a deep breath, Toothless couldn't stand it any longer. "Fleetfoot!" He yowled, rushing forward. He heard Nightflight curse under her breath, but he paid no heed to it. "Stop!" He yelled loudly, aware of all of the dragons' gazes trained on him skeptically.

The dragon jerked around to face him. His eyes were burning as he closed his mouth with a snap, still pinning the human down as he looked over at Toothless. "I knew it." He growled thinly. Toothless skidded to a stop, blinking as he straightened, trying to hide the fear that was coming to him in waves. "You're soft when it comes to humans. You aren't the big dragon you used to be. You ran away from us like a coward. And then when we welcome you back, you rush to the defense of a small, insolent HUMAN?" The last words rang through the cavern, bouncing back in an eerie echo as Toothless shuffled his feet.

"We shouldn't kill unless we HAVE to." Toothless mumbled.

"And where did you learn that rule?" Fleetfoot growled.

…Toothless could honestly not remember.

His eyes flickered down to the human, pity filling his heart as he looked down. Face and arms were covered with scrapes and gashes from both the rock and from the dragons attacks. It was bleeding, and Toothless saw that the human had a small metal contraption strapped onto his leg. Briefly, Toothless looked down at his own tail, blinking slowly as he realized that they were like the same.

His thoughts were cut off as the human opened its eyes, round with fear and confusion. It obviously didn't know where it was, or what was going on. "I didn't get the rule from anywhere." He snapped, catching the human's attention. "It's something called common sense! All we have to do is drive it out! That way nobody will suffer anything and it will be over quicker!"

The human's eyes flashed down to his tail.

"And what about the others?" Fleetfoot roared, hackles raised as he looked at Toothless challengingly.

The human's eyes widened.

"WHAT OTHERS?" Toothless roared. "WE HAVE NO PROOF THERE ARE OTHERS!"

"Humans don't travel singularly!" Fleetfoot growled. "That is something called common sense also! How are we supposed to trust you staying here to live with us if you can't even stomach a small human like this one dying? Or any human for that matter!"

"Did you forget the one that sliced your tail?" Nightflight spoke up, pacing forward. Her eyes were critical as she looked at him. Toothless's ears flickered back and forth uneasily. "You must have forgotten what they do to us. Don't you see, Toothless? We have to kill them, otherwise they will find out where our home is and then wipe the Night Furies out completely! We've spent too long building up our home here, it's too late for anything to get out. We wouldn't have anywhere else to go."

"I'm not being disloyal!" Toothless flashed, getting uncomfortable.

There was silence in the cave, before: "Prove it." The command came from Mistyeyes, the smallish Night Fury looking at Toothless steadily. "Prove that you care more for your own kind than for humans." She turned, blinking over at Fleetfoot. "Let go, Toothless can be the one to attack the human."

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A/N: I can't seem to find a good ending for a chapter and not make it a cliffhanger! I'm sorry! DX

Anyway, hope you liked.

And I hope you review :3


	21. Chapter 21

"W-What?" Toothless stammered, shocked as he looked at Fleetfoot with wide eyes. Nightflight seemed satisfied where she stood, her tail giving a lash of approval as she looked over at the human with a cold stare. Toothless swallowed hard, looking at Fleetfoot like he almost expected the dragon to be joking. He knew in the back of his mind that he would never be able to hurt the thing on his own accord. But he had nowhere to go without the others!

"You heard me." Mistyeyes said clearly, eyes narrowed. "You tell us that you are with us completely? Prove it." She blinked slowly, turning her stare down at the human once more. "If you kill this human, then you will prove to us permanently that you are one of us. This is the only thing you have to do. It is not much, really. Look at it - it is a TWIG. It would be easy." She looked back at Toothless, gaze uncaring as she looked at him. "If you cannot do this, then leave."

When Toothless said nothing, Nightflight stepped up, looking over at him with wide green eyes. "Toothless, you only have to do this one thing. Then you can stay here forever." She blinked, trying out Toothless's smile as she gave him a small grin. "We can stay here together forever. It'll be perfect."

Toothless blinked, ears still flat to his head as he shuffled his paws uneasily on the ground. His gaze slowly slid over to the human, who's eyes were still firmly glued to his tail, green orbs wide with something of astonishment. Toothless didn't say anything, but pulled his tail tighter to himself, sweeping it away from the human's line of view.

From behind the human, Toothless noticed that there was a large brown thing strapped to the thing's back. It was squirming, moving with life. It was only a few more moments before a small thing poked its head out. It had large amber eyes, and silver fluff that darted out in every which way. It caught sight of Fleetfoot right as the Night Fury caught sight of it.

Well, it might as well have been an axe. Fleetfoot puffed up immediately, taking in a deep breath and roaring as loud as he could down at the smaller thing. It was so loud that even Toothless winced away from the noise. The small fluff let out a loud cry, ducking back into the bag. The human was trying to reach back to it, maybe to touch it? But it couldn't move. Toothless could see that the other dragon's eyes were alight with fury, and he knew that if he didn't do anything know, then something far worse would happen. Fleetfoot jerked forward slightly, as if to lunge down at the human.

Toothless closed his eyes tightly. "I'll do it." He said steadily, wincing inwardly as he did so. Nightflight hummed in agreement as he spoke, Fleetfoot straightening with a somewhat surprised look on his face. Toothless repeated the words, more firmer than before. "Let go, Fleetfoot, I'm going to do it." It was only one human, it wasn't like it would hurt him more than it hurt the smaller thing. Dragons have been enemies with humans for as long as there have been dragons. It would be easy. Fleetfoot sure thought it was easy.

Fleetfoot started, as if he didn't want to give up his prey. The human had taken to flattening itself against the cave ground, eyes wide with fear rolling off of him in waves. Toothless narrowed his eyes, growling at the other Night Fury as he stalked forward, hackles rising slowly. Mistyeyes watched with approval at the actions. Reluctantly, Fleetfoot drew back, giving Toothless an angry snort as he paced backwards. The other dragons were watching now, with interest. To see what side Toothless chose.

The human rolled over on his side as soon as Fleetfoot stepped back, grimacing as he held his stomach tightly. Toothless cursed himself at the pity that he felt for the smaller thing. He was a Night Fury! He drew himself up, a growl rising in his throat. And Night Furies were the most feared dragons in the world. He needed to prove himself now, prove that he could stay here with others of his kind. His claws slid out, and he narrowed his eyes. He needed to show himself.

Hiccup blinked, starting as he saw Toothless coming towards him. The tailfin could not have been mistaken, the golden switch glinting in the light of the other dragons eyes. Relief filled his heart, and Hiccup let out a breath, pushing himself up to his feet shakily. He was bruised and beaten, but that didn't matter anymore. He had seen how Toothless had gotten the other dragon away from him. The dragon must have caught sight of him and remembered the true things about him!

"Toothless." Hiccup rasped, starting towards the dragon. Toothless stopped for a moment, ears flicking back and forth as he tilted his head to the side. It wasn't so much of remembrance as it was…puzzlement. Hiccup blinked, slowing slightly. "Toothless, don't you remember me?" He asked, voice rising with something that he hoped was a comedic tone. "You couldn't forget me, right?" When Toothless still remained still, his smile faded to an uncertain frown. "…right?" He asked, softer this time.

The dragon that had been pinning him down earlier barked out something to Toothless, eyes narrowed and critical as he looked at the Night Fury. Shaking himself almost, the hardened glint returned to Toothless's eyes, and he looked back at Hiccup with a fiery stare. Hiccup started to shuffled backwards uncertainly, a lump growing in his throat as Toothless got closer and closer. "…Toothless?" He whispered, trembling where he stood.

Toothless swung his tail forward, hitting Hiccup in the stomach as the teen flew back down to the ground. Hitting his head on the cave floor, he gasped sharply as his vision exploded in white, waves of pain and fuzziness crashing into his head. He groaned loudly, reaching up and holding his head tightly as he waited for the pain to stop. Before he could even recollect himself, something else slammed against him, making him skid forward, scraping his back and wrists as he let out a small squeak.

Ludi's bag had fallen from his back in his flight, flying over to the side and landing on the ground with a small thump. Ludi squealed where she landed, blinking as she peered through the folds of the bag with wide eyes, shaking from head to toe. Her eyes landed on Hiccup, and she stiffened, watching as Toothless leaped forward, sinking his claws into the boy's chest.

Hiccup gave out a yell of pain, Ludi flinching back inside the bag, away from the dreadful noise. Her paw gave a small jerk, as if to go out of the bag. But she immediately flinched backwards, cowering back in the shadows and away from the violence. Shame filled the small kitten from her ears all the way to her tail-tip, but she only tucked tighter to herself. She couldn't face what was going on outside of her fortress. Her small ears flattened to her head, and she felt waves of sickness crashing over her.

Hiccup's skin burned where Toothless sunk his claws into, blood spotting the green fabric of his tunic a purple color. His breath came in sharp gasps, and he looked up at Toothless with fear-filled eyes. "Toothless, stop!" He screamed, hands reaching forward and clawing at Toothless's paw, trying to get it off of him. "Toothless stop, let go! It hurts!"

Nightflight started where she sat, watching as Toothless stiffened, his gaze locking with Hiccup's wide eyes. The Night Fury blinked, mind racing as she saw Toothless relax slightly. Hiccup seemed to notice this too, a small and hopeful smile spreading over his face. Nightflight growled loudly, racing forward into the mess. Mistyeyes jumped where she sat, getting to her feet as she yelled crossly back at the younger Night Fury. "Nightflight!" She snapped. "This is Toothless's fight!"

But Nightflight shouldered Toothless out of the way roughly, causing the dragon to stumble over to the side, eyes round with shock. Nightflight landed on Hiccup heavily, the teen's breath going out of him with a loud whooshing sound. Fury clouded the female's gaze, and she let out a furious roar, Hiccup flattening himself to the ground as she screamed in his ear. He put everything she felt for the boy in the scream, the anger, the hate, and the utter betrayal she felt. Her wings spread out, and she lashed forward, giving the boy a large gash over his forehead, dark blood gushing out immediately as he yelled in pain.

It was all the insolent human deserved. Nightflight glared down at the small thing, claws sticky with blood as she watched the boy's eyes go fuzzy slightly. As soon as this stupid child was taken care of, she wouldn't have to worry about Toothless leaving her. They would go undisturbed together, with nothing to get in their way. Sucking in a deep breath, Hiccup's eyes widening through his state as he saw the familiar green gas taking form in the back of her throat. The boy pressed himself to the ground, eyes shutting tightly as warm blood started to gush down his head, leaving a dark red trail.

Nightflight reared back to shoot her fireball, when suddenly something slammed into her head. She jerked backwards, her flame shooting out to hit the wall instead of her target, rocks and debris showering down on the Night Fury cave as a boom sounded. The dragon roared with frustration, trying to shake whatever was on her off. Hiccup jumped at the loud noise, looking up after a moment or two, eyes flying wide as he saw what had caused the interruption.

Ludi was clinging on the top of Nightflight's head, sharp curved claws sunken deep into the Night Fury's head. Nightflight was bobbing up and down, back and forth, trying to shake off the unknown attacker. Hiccup wriggled forward, immediately wincing at the sharp pain in caused him. But as he saw the determined fire in Ludi's eyes, Hiccup knew that he had to match it. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself out of the dragon's grip, a large ripping noise sounding as her claws were torn from his skin.

Hiccup pushed himself up to his feet, blinking as his head spun from the movement. His hand flew up to the side of his head, and he grimaced as it became soaked with blood as soon as he touched his temple. He let out a small moan, cracking open one eye as he tried to spot Toothless. The dragon was still sitting on the ground, looking somewhat torn as he stared straight ahead. He looked confused, like he had forgotten why he was here…but at the same time he was also wondering why he was just sitting there.

He started forward to go to Toothless, but a roar from behind him made him spin around. The dragon that had first attacked him was charging forward, aiming straight for him. Jaw going slack, Hiccup stepped to the side, avoiding the dragon as he flashed past him. Starting, Hiccup looked up, forcing his numb legs into motion as he tried to make a break for Toothless. If he could just get the dragon to remember him, then he would be able to fly away with Ludi.

But before he could go more than a few shaky steps, the dragon barreled forward once more, knocking him to the side as he landed on the ground again. He knew that he was quicker than this. He knew that he should have been able to dodge the dragon's attacks better than what he was showing right now. But every single movement he did was slow, something he had to think about before he did it, something he had to force himself to do. His mind was going fuzzy the more blood that gushed down to the cave floor, and his vision was starting to blur and shake. He felt somewhat light and airy, and knew for a fact that he wasn't able to last very much longer if he kept this up.

Before he could move, claws raked down his back, the teen yelling loudly into the ground as blood warmed his back quickly. Stinging, burning, and shaking, Hiccup forced himself up to his feet before the dragon could do anything else. Breathing heavily by now, Hiccup reached up and pressed his sleeve against his forehead tightly, trying to stop the bleeding, but to no avail.

Mistyeyes was beside herself where she sat. Two dragons were fighting something that wasn't their fight, one dragon was in the corner, looking like he was about to pass out, and she was just sitting there watching the whole thing in terror! "Stop! Stop!" She shrieked, looking distressed as she hollered over the noise of the cat squalling. "This isn't your fight! Why can't you listen when I tell you something? Is anybody listening to me!"

In fact, nobody was.

Hiccup turned his head to Toothless, panting heavily with breath that didn't seem to fill his lungs. "TOOTHLESS!" He screamed, closing his eyes as he ducked his head. "TOOTHLESS HELP ME!" The Night Fury looked as if he were being roused from a dream, blinking blearily as he turned his gaze slowly over to Hiccup. "TOOTHLESS HELP ME! COME BACK TO ME!" His eyes burned, and Hiccup took steps back from the oncoming dragon, pressing himself to the cave wall. "I NEED YOU, BUD!"

"IT'S ATTACKING ME!" Nightflight howled, trying to spin around, smashing her head against the cave wall in attempt to smack Ludi off. The cat shifted to the side, eyes wild as she tried her best to stay on top of the dragon, just sinking her claws deeper into the dragon's skull. The cat paused for a moment before she whipped down, sinking her teeth into Nightflight's head as well, now crouched on top of the Night Fury's head.

Toothless started, obviously more interested in what was happening to Nightflight as he bolted to his feet. Hiccup's eyes widened as he saw the dragon's gaze go straight to Ludi, heart hammering nearly out of his chest as Toothless started forward. "NO!" He screamed, stumbling forward to Toothless. He didn't want to bring it out, but it was the only thing left he had. Reaching into his vest, he drew out his small knife, pointing it at Toothless directly. He swallowed uneasily, shifting from foot to foot as Toothless looked over at him, pupils dilating as he caught sight of the weapon. "Don't you dare hurt Ludi." Hiccup said lowly, tightening his grip on the handle. Tears beaded at Hiccup's eyes as he forced the next sentence out. "Keep back, or you'll make me do something I'll really regret Toothless!"

Toothless's eyes narrowed into slits as he looked at the flashing blade. Hiccup swallowed uneasily, all of the dragons turning to look at the weapon in the small human's hands. The cave got quiet, and even Ludi relaxed slightly as she looked with concern at her owner. That was a mistake. As soon as Ludi let go, Nightflight swung her head, the cat flipping off of her perch and landing on the ground with a dull thump. Hiccup let out a startled scream, dropping his knife with a clatter and dashing forward to the limp scrap of fur.

"LUDI?" Hiccup shouted, leaning down and picking up her body gently. The cat's eyes were closed, and she seemed dead to the world. She didn't look up at Hiccup when he yelled her name, and he shook her violently in his arms. "LUDI DON'T YOU DO THIS TO ME!" Hiccup yelled, tears running down his cheeks as he continued to try and shake her awake. "LUDI PLEASE DON'T." He ducked his head, closing his eyes tightly. "Please don't do this to me." He whispered.

He didn't move. He didn't speak. He didn't feel.

Until a rush of white-hot anger slammed into him, lighting his eyes with fire and making him lower Ludi gently to the ground. He pushed himself up to his feet, spinning around to face the person that cause all of this. Caused Toothless to leave, caused endless amounts of days of grief for him, and caused what had just happened right now. He trembled with a new kind of anger he had never felt before, and he picked up his knife once more from the ground, pacing stiffly forward to get closer and closer to the female dragon.

She narrowed her eyes, claws scraping against the ground in warning as he came closer and closer. The look in her eyes told both of the other Furies to hold back. This was her fight now. Hiccup clenched his teeth together, shaking as more and more blood gushed from the wound on his forehead. But he forgot the pain that came with it, only feeling anger as he stalked forward. In that fleeting moment, he realized why Vikings had been so bent on killing dragons until he came along. In a fleeting moment, he agreed with them. But he shook himself mentally. It was only this dragon.

He grounded his teeth together tightly, raising his knife as he aimed for her. Nightflight looked at him steadily, but did not show any signs of stopping him from dealing his blow. Toothless shifted uneasily where he sat, green eyes flickering side to side as he became on-edge. Nightflight seemed to be facing the situation bravely, eyes locked with the human's. Toothless watched as the human raised his hand, digging his claws into the ground as he swung forward.

The knife blade sunk deep into Nightflight's shoulder, the female had not even tried to move to the side to dodge. But as the knife hit her, she raised her head and howling anguish up to the roof of the cave. Toothless flattened his ears at the scream, grimacing terribly. Hiccup was obviously surprised, anger flashing away from him as his eyes widened, the boy stumbling backwards with surprise.

The female staggered for a moment or two before she fell down to the ground, closing her eyes tightly as she moaned loudly in pain. Hiccup blinked, looking at the small blade that had stuck in her shoulder. He didn't hit anything big, so why was she hurt so bad…? Hiccup started forward to check, when Toothless roared with fury where he stood. Hiccup leaped out of his skin, whirling around in time to see Toothless dash forward, claws outstretched as the dragon raked his thick claws down Hiccup's side.

The teen gasped sharply, hands immediately flying to the new injury as he took in deep, sharp breaths. "Toothless, I didn't-" His yell was cut off as Toothless clawed down Hiccup's thigh, the boy giving out a small scream before he buckled, landing on the ground with a smack. His hands fisted together tightly, knuckles going white as he stared straight ahead with wide green eyes. He was shaking with pain, and he bit his lip to keep from yelling out as Toothless loomed over him.

The Night Fury's eyes were cold as he looked down at the human, and Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he took in shuddering breaths. The Night Fury stared down at the small twig with anger, blood boiling at the anger he felt. He was about to slam his paw down on the small thing, when a pleased voice sounded to his left.

Tearing his gaze away from the shaking human, Toothless's eyes widened as he saw Nightflight trotting up to him merrily. "Nightflight?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "You're okay?" He looked at the Night Fury and saw that she appeared unharmed.

"Of course I'm fine." She said dismissively, coming to a stop beside him. "It's a small knife, I barley felt it! I just needed a way for you to kill the human! You were taking too long, so I thought in doing that, I would help to speed it up." She looked down, eyeing the human with disgust. "He's getting blood everywhere, just kill him already."

Unnerved by the speech, Toothless merely stared at her. "What?" He asked.

Nightflight jerked her head to the side. "Kill him." She said bluntly.

Toothless started, looking down at the human with new eyes now. The anger had left him worn-out, and he looked with horror at what he had done. Indeed, blood covered most of the small thing's body, and the thing was shaking as it looked up at him. For the first time, Toothless noticed his eyes. They were so familiar…a name. A name was on the tip of his tongue as he looked down at the human. This thing had a name. And one that stood out to him. But he could not remember what it had been.

He had known this human, he was sure of it. But from where?

The human blinked up at him, seeming to notice the flash of uncertainty in his large green orbs. The human reached forward shakily, Toothless not daring to move as the thing made to touch his tail. Toothless thought about drawing it away, but stopped, seeming to have been frozen in place as the human reached over.

Nightflight growled under her breath, but Toothless flicked an ear to quiet her as he watched the human with growing interest. Hurt and wounded as he was, the human was still going to try something. Seeing how weak it was, Toothless came to the conclusion that it wouldn't do much harm in his state.

Hiccup's vision was getting blurrier and blurrier by the second, the boy only able to make out shapes through his hazy vision. But he made out Toothless's fake tailfin, and he lunged forward, pressing his hand against the black leather tightly as he shook back and forth. He left it there for a few moments, Toothless looking at him carefully. He wore that of a dragon unfamiliar to human touch, and the thought tore Hiccup's heart in half.

When he drew back, a bright red handprint of blood remained on the surface. Toothless's eyes widened as he looked down at the tail, and Hiccup finally went limp against the stone floor. His eyelids fluttered closed, and his breathing turned labored as he sank into unconsciousness. But right before he lost all sense, he whispered something out numbly to Toothless. "I'll miss you, buddy." He sighed, going still.

Toothless went stiff, eyes widening as something slammed into him full-force, nearly knocking him off of his feet. Images flashed through his head. Hiccup's laughing green eyes, the fake tail Hiccup made, Astrid going for a ride on him, saving Hiccup from the Monstrous Nightmare, being captured, Hiccup's father saving him, the battle, him swooping back down to save Hiccup, waking up with the boy still asleep. Voices whirled past too, the dragon barley able to make out what they were saying, and yet he knew what they all were.

"I did this…" "Toothless? I could have sworn you had-" "Astrid, this is Toothless. Toothless. ASTRID." "Okay, Toothless, you have to go." "Alright, I'm going to get you out of this thing." "You got it bud!" "That thing has wings! Alright, let's see if he can use them!" "We'll be fine, just a little bit longer!" "What do you think of that?" "You are…really going to love this…" "Bad dragon! Very bad dragon! What is in your mouth?" "Hey- you found my helmet!" "Buddy…you are amazing!"

"Buddy…you are amazing!"

Toothless's eyes flew wide as he looked down at Hiccup's crumpled form. Nightflight started, looking over at him with concern in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but got cut off as a loud yelling started farther down the tunnel. "THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE!"

A large Viking war cry sounded, and then an explosion of Vikings and dragons poured into the Night Fury tunnels.

•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙

A/N: I'm sorry this is the end! And I am REALLY sorry, because I wont be able to update for three days. I'm going to celebrate Christmas with my family. So Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are off days for me. Actually…I might get one out on Sunday, but I'm not sure. I made up for it with a super-long chapter! Or…longer…

So….review!

And yes. I am sorry for…everything else.

Hiccup: YOU JUST POINTED TO ALL OF THE CHAPTER.

Yeah…everything XDD


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy with my new dog! You know how life is, it catches up to us a lot at the most random moments! I think this time is the most hectic, so bear with me, and please understand (and not get…aggressive about it like SOME people are) that I might only get out a few updates a week probably. I'm busy potty-training my dog so I wont have to pick up after her ^^

In case you all didn't get the link to the song that I posted a few chapters back, this is part of the song that really fits for this chapter:

**You cried: WOLF**

**The tears they soaked your fur**

**The blood dripped from your fangs**

**You said: "What have I done?"**

**You loved that lamb**

**With every sinful bone**

**And there you wept alone**

**Your heart was so contrite…**

**(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)**

The cave was silent. Quiet. Dark. Astrid could not see an inch in front of her nose without Stormfly's glowing eyes lighting the way. Dragons' footsteps seemed to be amplified in the darkness as Astrid wove through the twisted caverns of the cave. Stormfly seemed tense and alert as the dragon paced along confidently. She seemed to know exactly where she was going, and Astrid could only sit back silently and look as though she was the same. She was still at the lead, of course.

The people behind her seemed a little uneasy in the caverns, and Astrid could feel sympathy for each and every one of them. It seemed like the cave walls were pressing in one her, cutting off her oxygen and squeezing her tightly. It was all she could do to not leap forward and run back into the open air outside. But she held herself tightly, gritting her teeth as she reached forward to prod Stormfly restlessly.

But as soon as she did that, a loud noise ripped through the air, shattering her eardrums as she flinched backward automatically. Stormfly and the other dragons looked just as surprised, eyes widened as hackles rose. It was a dragon's screech, sounding somewhat like a warning cry for help. Narrowing her eyes, Astrid just barely spotted a black shape of what looked like a Night Fury dashing into a tunnel that lied before them.

Tightening her grip on Stormfly, Astrid surprised herself even as she opened her mouth and let out an angered yell that crashed into the cave walls and bounced back to her full-force. Stormfly lurched forward, feet pounding on the cave floor as they raced forward. The other Vikings behind her took up the yell, running forward so that they could keep up with her.

The tunnel sloped downwards, and before Astrid knew it, they came into a large clearing in the cave, walls branching outwards to make a very large space. There was a small hole in the ceiling, letting in light to the large area, and Astrid stiffened as she saw the sight.

There were Night Furies lining in the tunnel, some streaming in from the passages from behind the first few. More and more were trying to fill the cave, and Astrid realized with a sinking heart that they would not get out of here without a fight. But one Night Fury caught her eye, and when her eyes landed on the dragon's tail, a hand flew up to clamp over her mouth.

As she saw the fake tailfin that looking hauntingly familiar, Astrid wondered if this was a joke or not. But the dragon looked up at her, and she saw the same green eyes that she remembered from long ago it seemed. It was Toothless! So that meant that Hiccup was right, that he wasn't crazy! He really made it to where Toothless was! A slow smile went over her face, but it froze halfway through as she saw that Toothless's claws were matted with red…blood? "…What…?" Astrid breathed, a crease coming in her forehead.

The girl jumped as a startled scream made her snap back to reality. She looked over to see Jen, the girl's eyes were wide with horror. Astrid opened her mouth to ask, but was cut off as Jen jabbed a finger straight forward, staring to shake by now. "Jen…what is it?" Astrid turned to follow the girl's direction, and immediately snapped her mouth shut as she saw what had frightened the girl so much.

But she had no time at all to do anything before the Night Furies leaped forward from the edges of the cave. Their teeth were bared, and their long claws unsheathed as they charged at the Vikings with full-force. Astrid let out a startled yell, catching her off-balance. Stormfly leaped forward, and Astrid fell off of her dragon, slamming into the ground with a heavy thud.

Stormfly didn't seem to notice her human's sudden disappearance. The Nadder leaped at a random Night Fury, tackling him over to the ground and latching her teeth on his throat. The other dragons followed suit, the Vikings riding them pulling out their weapons quickly in an aid to help their dragons. Frazzle had backed against the wall, tail tucked in between his legs. Jen was squashed against the wall in a rather awkward-looking position, one eye closed as she tried to squirm out from the dragon. But to no avail.

Astrid pushed herself up with a grunt, blinking rapidly as she looked at the mess to writhing dragons in front of her. They were locked in combat, and Astrid's eyes widened as she realized that she needed to find a way through them. Over the heads of the squalling beasts, Astrid straightened as she saw Toothless. The Night Fury was sitting amid the mess and destruction, green eyes wide as he looked down at the cave floor.

She immediately narrowed her eyes, anger boiling in her veins as she leapt off of the floor, charging straight into the mess of fighting bodies. There was doubt clinging in her mind, and she somehow doubted that what she had seen had been fake. Surely it was just a trick of the light? Her imagination? It had to be something, for it could never be true, not in a million years. It just couldn't happen.

She got scratched and clawed as she made her way through the fighting. The pain went unnoticed to her though, she could only push herself faster as she neared the center of the cave. As she neared Toothless. The words from before ran over and over inside her head, as if she were trying to imprint it inside of her mind. She found that she was shaking as she neared her destination, and as she stumbled from the fighting mass. Brushing her hair out of her eyes, Astrid looked down at the floor. She turned white almost at once, all color draining from her face as she staggered slightly.

It couldn't be. It made no sense! It wasn't possible! But…it was there. Amid the mess of fighting and yelling dragons, Hiccup lied on the ground, unmoving and limp. His eyes were closed gently, almost like he were asleep. And Astrid might have believed he was. If it wasn't for the large puddle of blood that she was standing in. The red liquid was slowly getting bigger, and Astrid let out a small whimper as the foul smell hit her nose.

She went shaky, she couldn't remember which way was up or down, whether or not she could move one foot in front of the other anymore. That must have slipped her mind too. She swallowed a lump in her throat with difficulty, opening her mouth with a small yell of anguish. That was all it took, and she dropped to her knees beside Hiccup, her knees landing in the dark red blood with a small splashing sound.

Breath coming in rapid gasps, Astrid reached forward, taking Hiccup by the shoulders and rolling him around so that he was on his back. She went slightly dizzy at the sight, but pushed away the feeling, shaking herself mentally as she gripped him more tightly. "Hiccup?" She yelled, barley hearing herself over the noise around them. "Hiccup, wake up!"

The boy's eyelids didn't even flicker at her voice. Astrid felt her eyes starting to burn, and she let out a sob as she started to shake Hiccup as hard as she could. "HICCUP!" She started to scream. "HICCUP WAKE UP, YOU CAN DO IT!" Tears streamed down her face, and Astrid's shoulders started to heave up and down as sobs worked their way out of her mouth. She didn't even look back to see if somebody would help her, she was frozen to the spot. "Please don't." She rasped, her voice going hoarse as she looked down at Hiccup's bloodied chest. She felt a strong wave of fear hit her, but some of it ebbed away as the boy's chest rose ever so slightly with a breath. There was hope.

"Okay okay." She rasped quickly, clearing her throat as her eyes roved over Hiccup anxiously. "I'll help you, I will. Just- Just tell me what you need. What I can do to keep you here." The words tumbled out of her mouth uselessly, and her eyes landed on Hiccup's good leg with a twinge of fear. She had to put a hand down on the ground to support herself, but she swallowed the lump in her throat quickly for the second time.

Hiccup's leg was a mess to say the least. It was bleeding heavily, and a long gash that started from his knee all the way down to his ankle had been torn open. She was about to get dizzy again, but she pushed the feeling away instantly, gritting her teeth as she leaned over to grab her wrist. Hands wrapping over the bandages she usually wore around her wrists.

Yanking it off of both hands roughly, she leaned over and started to wrap it around the large injury. "Please be enough," She growled under her breath, narrowing her eyes as she tried to tuck the last of the bit underneath the others to secure it. It wasn't much, but it would have to do for now. But they had to get out of here.

She leaned back and scooped him back up again. He was lighter than she had thought he was, but she knew that she couldn't even dream of carrying him. His breathing was labored, and Astrid bit her lower lip tightly. "Hiccup, please." She whimpered, leaning over and hugging him as hard as she could. "Hiccup, we're going to get out of here, but you need to stay here." She said quietly, her voice shaking as she spoke. Something skidded to a stop beside her, and Astrid looked up to see Snotlout and Fireworm standing behind her.

Snotlout's eyes were slightly wide, and he opened his mouth to say something to her. But she cut him off short as she spoke. "Go get Stoick!" She said stiffly. "We have to get out of here, now! We don't have time to loose!" A minute passed, and Snotlout didn't even move. At first, Astrid thought that the boy was just locked in place, but then he shifted to the side, and Astrid's heart nearly broke at the sight.

Ludi was perched on Hookfang's back, blinking large amber eyes up at Astrid. She looked slightly dazed with her misty eyes, but she seemed fine. Astrid made a move to go and pick her up, when she realized that she was still holding Hiccup to her chest. Her clothes were nearly soaked with blood, red liquid smeared on her arms and face. Ludi started as she caught sight of Hiccup, opening her mouth in a wail of anguish that could not be heard over the noise of the fighting dragons.

The cat gathered under herself and sprang over to land expertly on Astrid's shoulder with ease. Jumping down from Astrid's shoulder, she landed on Hiccup's chest lightly. Though the cat weighed no more than a feather it seemed, Astrid still winced as the feline landed. Crouching down, Ludi nosed Hiccup's chest softly, eyes widening with a scared sort of feeling as Hiccup did not respond to her.

Leaning over, Ludi's pink tongue flashed out, and she started to lick at the human's wounds with care, shaking anxiously where she sat. Astrid's lower lip quivered, and she felt the warm sensation of tears in her eyes once more. Whipping away from Snotlout so that he would not see, Astrid mumbled out her last words to him rather ungraciously. "Go get Stoick!" She yelled, reached up with a bloody hand and trying her best to wipe away the tears as best she could.

Hesitating for a moment, Snotlout obeyed her command, turning and dashing back in search of the chief. Tears ran freely down Astrid's face by now, and she found that she could not stop them. Bending her head over to press her forehead against Hiccup's she let out her sobs loudly, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. She pressed Hiccup's limp body to her chest and she didn't care who saw. All she wanted was to see Hiccup open his eyes again.

Shoulders shaking up and down, Astrid waited for Stoick to rush out of the crowd. She had no idea what the Viking chief would do when he saw his son, whether he would be angry, sad, or something else that Astrid didn't even want to consider. There was a fine line between anger and fury, and both of the emotions had different affects that came with the mood.

The thought made her start and look up. Toothless had not moved. He sat a ways away from Astrid, ears flat to his head with big green eyes aimed at her. She could see the sorrow and raw fear that shone in the dragon's eyes, but it didn't do anything for her. Her teeth gnashed together, and her eyes narrowed slowly down into furious slits as she looked at the dragon's bloody claws.

The scene basically played out in her mind. Hiccup, as unsuspecting and innocent as he could be (innocent for a lack of better word), would have been overjoyed to find Toothless here in the cave. But Toothless attacked him. The mental image of Toothless tearing Hiccup apart made Astrid's stomach to lurch over and do summersaults. The blonde looked down at Hiccup's sort-of-bandaged leg to see that the makeshift bandages were almost soaked in the blood by now. It wouldn't last much longer.

Shutting her eyes tightly, the blonde whipped her head back up to glare at Toothless. The Night Fury shrank underneath her gaze, a small, worried mummer coming from him as he did so. But once again, Astrid felt nothing but hate for the dragon by now. "Get away." She snarled. Toothless perked at the words, confusion riddling his eyes. Raising her voice to a yell, Astrid held Hiccup to her so that his back was facing Toothless. Ludi was squished against Astrid and Hiccup, but the cat didn't see to mind. She just buried herself deeper, away from Toothless as her tail came to be in between her legs. "Get out of here! Go away! Can't you see that all you do is cause trouble now! Get out of here! We don't need you to mess more stuff up! I can't believe you did this!"

Toothless blinked largely, eyes wide with fear as he looked at her almost uncomprehendingly. Groaning loudly, Astrid raised her voice even more, face going slightly pink. "GET OUT OF HERE! HICCUP WAS WILLING TO COME ALL THIS WAY AND TRY AND GET YOU TO COME BACK AND LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO HIM! I WONT BE AS QUICK TO TRUST YOU! GET OUT OF HERE!" Tears left trails on her face, and Astrid gave another withering glare at Toothless before she ducked her head back down to Hiccup's.

Toothless blinked, stiff as he looked down at Astrid with horror. The girl hated him, but the dragon supposed that she had a right. He looked down at Hiccup, shaking as he did so. Hiccup was limp on that ground, having not moving for what seemed like an eternity. Toothless had never known Hiccup to be still for more than five minutes, he was always bouncing around and laughing after the two second mark. But now his face was pale, eyes closed, form still, and breathing slow.

Slowly, Toothless looked down at his claws, matted with blood and cloth. A sick feeling started in his throat, and Toothless tasted bile in the back of his throat. He remembered briefly what had happened, though the images were blurry. Mostly they were of Hiccup, and what he saw made him flinch visibly.

Hiccup's smile faltering slightly as he looked at him. Hiccup messing up in their flight and making him angry. Hiccup looking almost…scared as he edged closer to him, trying to reach out and touch him with his hand. Hiccup, this time accompanied with Astrid as they came down into the cove. Hiccup being slammed backwards to the ground by Nightflight. Hiccup throwing rocks at Nightflight, shouting shaky words at her. Hiccup's scared face as Toothless roared at him. Hiccup strapping the new tailfin on him, and watching sadly as he flew away. Hiccup's slow smile as he caught sight of him in the cave. Hiccup's scared and wild face as Toothless clawed at him. Hiccup yelling for help as he just sat there. The knife. The attack. The blood.

Toothless curled up tighter to himself, shutting his eyes tightly as he whimpered. What had he done? How could he do something so terrible to somebody like Hiccup? Hiccup was special to him, and he had just done something that could very well kill him. From the corner of his eye, Toothless caught sight of Astrid giving him another icy glare. He knew that if he stayed any longer, than he might be the next one close to death.

Spinning around, Toothless leapt back into the crowd of fighting dragons, tail still tucked tightly to him. The dragons locked in combat paid no heed to him, the Vikings doing the same. Toothless saw with a twinge that the Night Furies were loosing. Facing an armed dragon and a Viking with weapons, he was hardly surprised. He tried to find some happiness in his heart that the Vikings were winning, but his heart was hollow, and he felt absolutely nothing as he looked bleakly at the scene.

Something moving to the side made Toothless straighten. Turning around, Toothless's eyes narrowed somewhat as he saw what had made the move. Nightflight was slipping away from the fight with wide eyes, turning and rounding the corner that led down to one of the passages.

A growl rumbling in his throat, Toothless felt a wave of anger crash into him as he watched her go. He remembered how Hiccup had used to look at her sourly whenever he saw her, and now -finally- Toothless could see why. Hiccup was smarter than him, and Toothless wished that he would have stayed with Hiccup knowing that fact.

Flattening his ears to his head and claws sliding out to scrape against the cave floor, Toothless started after Nightflight.

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A/N: Sorry if this isn't as good as the others, I really had to get this out quick and it took longer than usual. So…I hope you like it anyway and review! ^^

Oh, I wont get an update out tomorrow, I'm going to the Fox and seeing Beauty and the Beast!


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Alright, new chapter! My sister's friends are over tonight, and since Tinkerbell is busy bouncing off the walls with the company of her squeaky toy, I thought I would check on you all out here :3

Anyway, I think you will all like this chapter. I think you will like it a lot. You…26 people out there I think. That one person on my poll that voted for the last choice? …never mind :D

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Flattening his ears to his head, claws sliding out to scrape against the cave floor, Toothless rocketed to his feet and charged after Nightflight. His hackles were drawn, and his eyes blazed with an anger that had been bottled up inside his chest. As Toothless charged into the tunnel that gradually sloped down, he caught sight of the female dragon bounding away from him. Pushing himself harder, the noises of the fight behind him got quieter and quieter, until he couldn't hear them anymore in the echo-filled cave.

Finally, the dragon skidded to a stop in a much smaller clearing than before. Along the cave wall, water trickled down to form a small pool of water on the ground. The cave was just big enough for about three Night Furies to sleep in with enough room to roll around. But Nightflight was already waiting for him, green eyes lighting up the room as she looked at him expectantly.

"I don't suppose that you came all this way for my company?" Nightflight presumed, a small grin working its way onto her face. The small drops of water seemed amplified in the silence that followed, the droplets making a large slapping sound as they hit the ground. Toothless's ears flattened to his head slowly, and suddenly he had doubted his decision to come down here. But his worries vanished when Nightflight purred, pacing forward and pressing her head to his chest warmly. "Maybe you DID."

"No!" He jerked backwards immediately, like he had been stung by her. Nightflight blinked rapidly, drawing backwards also as she looked at him like he had grown another head. She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off before she could do anything else. "You did something to me." He snarled. "I know you did. What did you do!"

"Are you sure I did something?" She purred warmly, catching Toothless slightly off-guard as she did so. "Maybe I didn't do anything. Maybe it was just yourself. You can't go around blaming people for your own actions." When Toothless made a move to say something, she swept onward. "Maybe you got tired of the stick being around you so much. Maybe you are just in denial now because you know you will be in trouble. Think about it, Toothless." She turned her gaze over to him, but Toothless whipped away from her, glaring down at the ground.

"I could never get tired of Hiccup." He choked. "Hiccup is my human! Without him I don't know what I would be. Hiccup made me what I am today, and I couldn't go on without him." He whipped around, looking her directly in the eyes. "And that is how I know you did something. I would never have hurt Hiccup before! I would rather die than be the one to hurt him!"

"Well…" Nightflight smirked where she sat. "He looks pretty hurt now. Who was responsible for that?"

"Shut up!" Toothless roared, flaring up in an instant as he lunged towards her. Nightflight hopped backwards out of his reach, the same leering look on her face as she stared at him. "That wasn't me! If Hiccup dies, then it's all your fault!" The words sunk in, and Toothless took a hesitant step backwards, eyes widening as he started to tremble.

He couldn't picture it. Hiccup being dead. It just didn't fit for the boy, he couldn't imagine a world without the shining green eyes and large white smile. Toothless let out a small shiver that shook him from ears to tail tip before he could focus on what he was saying before. "If Hiccup dies, it will be your fault!" He repeated. "And don't think that I'll continue to stay here."

"But this is your home." Nightflight said mildly, still not looking that worried. It was as if she thought that it was a phase that Toothless was having or something, a small thing that he would forget before the day was over. The thought made Toothless all the more furious, Nightflight eyeing him with humor as he drew up into a crouch, eyes narrowing. "You can't leave your home, Toothless."

"I already did." Toothless growled, still crouching against the cave floor. "My home is wherever Hiccup is. And if Hiccup dies, I don't know what I would ever do." Nightflight seemed to be getting impatient, so he added quickly before she could speak. "This is all your fault. If you had never attacked us on that day so long ago, none of this would have happened! I hope you feel good right now, because you wont in a little bit." His claws scraped against the stone with a screeching noise of warning.

Nightflight looked down at his claws with a slow blink. "You wouldn't attack me, Toothless." She purred, a small rumble of laughter hidden under her words. "You aren't the type of dragon to do something like that. Come on, it was only one little human. I'm sure you can get your mind off of it before too long. You have to pay attention to more important things like-"

"HICCUP WAS IMPORTANT!" Toothless roared, breaking loose finally. Pushing off of the ground, he slammed into Nightflight, causing them both to roll over onto the cave ground. Nightflight gasped in shock, claws sinking into Toothless's shoulders as she tried to pry the dragon away from her. But Toothless hang on as hard as he could, scratching and clawing at the female in a haze of anger as he finally pinned her to the ground.

Nightflight's eyes were large with fright as she looked up at Toothless from the ground. Toothless narrowed his eyes, teeth bared as he kept her pinned expertly. "You don't know how much he meant to me. And you made me do all of those awful things that he didn't deserve!" When Nightflight started to try and wriggle out, Toothless pushed her back down, still not done. "Even if he lives, I wont be able to go back! They would never let me!"

"He probably doesn't even want you anymore, what's the point in getting angry!" Nightflight howled, reaching up and swiping her claws across Toothless's face. The dragon let out a pained yip, relaxing slightly as he jumped with shock. Nightflight took her chance and shoved him off of her, getting up and prowling closer, eyes narrowed. She seemed to have given up on trying to convince him to stay, her eyes cold and mean now as she looked at him. "You were even lucky he ever took interest in you! Why would he? Lying in the forest, crippled, useless, temperamental? You're a mess!"

Growling, Toothless righted himself, shooting forward at Nightflight with a loud yowl. The dragon was more experienced in the cave as she sidestepped quickly, throwing out her tail and unbalancing him as he slammed into the ground once more. Whipping around without missing a beat, Toothless looked at her critically. "Then that just shows how much you don't know about Hiccup. Or any human for that matter!"

"Yes, of course you would know, right?" Nightflight sneered. "After all, you have spent so much time with them. You're no better than a Terrible Terror! The lap-dragons of the world, those dragons would trust anything that would give them half a fish tail. Such a shame to have been born such a powerful dragon just to go and waste it the first chance you got. You sound like a small child the way you praise him. It's disgusting."

"You wouldn't know the way it feels." Toothless snapped. "And you never will. I promise you right now, that you will regret what you did to cause Hiccup that much pain. You'll regret it with the most severe punishment I can give." His pupils dilated, and he didn't even hesitate before saying it. "I'm going to kill you Nightflight."

But the female merely let out a loud laugh. "I'd love to see you try, Toothless." She laughed, seeming highly amused by the dragon's words. But she seemed ready to meet the challenge enough, her claws gleaming in the light from her eyes, a flash of her bared teeth in the light. Both of them stood and waited, eyes narrowed as they waited for the other's first attack. After a brief moment of silence, Nightflight darted forward.

She thrust out one paw and tried to rake it across Toothless's side, but Toothless was quicker than her. He jumped and caught her mid-stride, catching her in the side with his claws that was met with a yowl of pain. A red haze started to cloud his vision, and Toothless knew that it would be a quick fight. Anger burned through his veins, and in the back of his mind, Hiccup's smiling image made him fight even harder. He would kill her for everything she did to his human, he would be sure of it.

He was brought back to sense as he felt the warm sensation of blood starting to warm his claws once more. He looked down with wide eyes to see Nightflight growing slowly weaker underneath him. He hadn't been aware of his attacks, but the female's flank was riddled with gashes and claw marks that were gushing with blood. Toothless was startled to realize that the fight was almost over.

But Nightflight didn't give in so soon. Lunging forward, the female dragged her claws down Toothless's face, long claw marks leaving a bloody trail down one side. The dragon hissed in pain, flinching away from the strike as he lifted one paw, pressing it against his face tightly. Nightflight jumped forward, leaning over and sinking her teeth into his throat, clinging on with all her might.

Gasping sharply, Toothless's eyes widened as he tried to shake her off. But Nightflight only sank her teeth deeper and deeper into his neck, eyes gleaming with anger as she did so. Panicking, Toothless shook his head back and forth wildly, trying his best to shake her off, but couldn't. Blood ran down his scaled skin, and Toothless's vision started to waver slightly. He couldn't breathe with her squeezing on his neck, and he started to stagger. The energy in him had ebbed the more he fought, and still Nightflight showed no signs of letting go.

A small, strangled sound came from Toothless, and the dragon's breath quickened as he started to see blackness crowding on his vision. His eyes started to roll into his head, and he struggled to keep them up. His mind grew fuzzy, and he knew that there wasn't hope left for him. But…maybe…maybe he would see Hiccup if he did loose this fight. Maybe he would be able to find Hiccup. Maybe…maybe…

Suddenly the weight on his neck disappeared. Immediately, he sucked in a deep breath that stung his throat as it went down. Panting heavily, Toothless shook his head roughly to clear it, blinking the fuzziness away from his eyesight as he looked to see what had happened. What he saw shocked him, to say the least.

Shadowclaw, the tiny little Night Fury, held Nightflight's tail tightly in his mouth. There were deep indentations to mark where he had bitten down, and Nightflight was in the middle of whirling around to face him. The child's eyes were wide with fright as she looked down at him, and Toothless sprang to the rescue before anything could happen. Slamming into her, Toothless raked his claws deeply across her stomach, not even pausing to see what the damage was before doing the same to her neck.

He stumbled backwards, still huffing for air as he looked at Nightflight, his eye that had been scratched still closed in pain. Nightflight was jerking on the ground, convulsing with pain and shock at what had just happened. Toothless's ears flattened as each movement slowly got weaker and weaker. Looking at the dying dragon, Toothless faintly DID recall the memories of his childhood spent with her. Though they were faint, they were most defiantly there. But so was Hiccup's memories. And those were all that mattered to him.

Pausing for a moment, Toothless turned to look down at Shadowclaw, trying to get his breathing under control once more. Shadowclaw blinked rapidly, shaking and trembling in the silence, wide eyes glued to Nightflight's body. Tearing his gaze away from the gory scene, the child looked up at Toothless with traumatized eyes. "She was going to kill you." He whispered, looking Toothless up and down. "I-I couldn't let her kill you!" His voice had risen by now. "I did the only thing I could do! I didn't do anything wrong…right?"

Toothless drew his tail over the youngling's shoulder, trying to comfort him. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off at a loud, booming voice from behind. Toothless's head whipped around to see Fleetfoot at the entrance to the cave, looking at Nightflight's body with wide eyes. "YOU…YOU KILLED HER!" He roared, Toothless jumping out of his skin as the dragon screeched in fury. "HOW DARE YOU!"

Mistyeyes came to join Fleetfoot, and she looked at the scene with a disconnected expression. She didn't look at all surprised when she looked at Nightflight's dead body. Her face remained blank, but she just shook her head slowly from side to side. She wasn't surprised, Toothless could see it in her face when she looked at him. "Explain yourself, Toothless." She said calmly. Thrusting out her tail, she barred Fleetfoot's path to Toothless, the Night Fury having crouched down to the ground in an attack stance. The pack of Night Furies had no significant leader, but Mistyeyes was never unchallenged when she took charge. Fleetfoot hesitated for a moment, but relaxed somewhat, taking to glaring at Toothless with white-hot anger as he trembled with rage.

Toothless started, looking down at Nightflight with unease. "…She ruined everything."

"That isn't being specific, Toothless." Mistyeyes said thinly.

Toothless hesitated, feeling uncomfortable as he shifted uneasily. "She manipulated me. I was never supposed to be here. And now everything is so messed up! She hurt…she hurt Hiccup."

Mistyeyes blinked, tilting her head to the side. "What's a 'Hiccup?'"

"The human from before." Toothless explained. "He's my human." There was no uncertainty in his voice now, he held his head high and he looked Mistyeyes in the face directly. "I never should have been here." Mistyeyes blinked slowly, but made no move to interrupt the Night Fury as he went on. "My home would never be here. It's at Berk, and I intend to return back."

Fleetfoot spoke up this time. "You think that we would let you leave?" He snarled, Mistyeyes looking down at Fleetfoot blankly as he spoke. "You just killed Nightflight! I wont let you leave freely, you must be an idiot to think that I would let you do something like that! She was apart of the family, and you wont get out of here alive!" His claws scraped out, and Toothless eyed the dragon wearily at the thought of another fight.

"No." Mistyeyes said clearly, nudging Fleetfoot backwards. Looking at him sternly, she paused for a moment before speaking, not even blinking as she looked at the Night Fury. "We do not want more bloodshed. The humans already left us ragged and hungry." Turning back to Toothless, she narrowed her eyes in a glare at the dragon as she added sharply. "If you speak the truth, you will not need this, but if any of my dragons sees you on this island again, we WILL take action."

Fleetfoot let out a loud objection, but Toothless was too relieved to notice anything else. He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding, letting himself relax with a grateful look. But Mistyeyes merely glared at him where he sat, her face grim as she judged him. Slowly, she sidestepped to press Fleetfoot up against the wall, gesturing out to the other tunnel. "Leave our island, now." She ordered.

Ducking his head, Toothless got up and started in a brisk walk out from the smaller cavern. Shadowclaw blinked rapidly, eyes wide as he watched his friend walk away without another word. His eyes shone with puzzlement and curiosity as he watched the older Night Fury walk away quickly. The youngling watched Toothless until the shadows up ahead swallowed up the dragon whole. And even then, Shadowclaw couldn't seem to tear his gaze from the tunnel. Slowly, the other dragons melted away to get a burial party together and to tend to their wounds.

Even still, Shadowclaw sat in the small, dank clearing, green eyes unblinking as he looked at the tunnel fixedly, the dead body of Nightflight cooling a ways behind him.

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A/N: I hope you liked this chapter everyone~

I have to go set up my dog's bed in my room, so I'll see you guys later ^^


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: I might not be here tomorrow, so if I'm not: MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D

For now… Merry Christmas EVE. Ohyeah

This story…. *pause for dramatic effect* is almost over O-O

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When the Vikings finally landed on Berk, they did not waste a single moment. Astrid stumbled off of Stormfly in a rush, pausing only briefly to give her a rapid pat on the snout before stumbling forward. Hiccup had been held by his father on the way back, and the whole flight back to Berk (a few hours) was tense with worry and fear. Astrid had ridden as close to Stoick's dragon as she could get, and she wasn't planning on being left behind once more. Racing forward, she caught up with the chief of the tribe as he made his way to the Elder's home.

People that had been left behind from the search gasped sharply at the sight of Hiccup's body, mothers grabbing their children's hands and pulling them away back into the house. Astrid refused to glance at anybody, in fear they would stop her and start to ask questions. Her eyes flickered over to Hiccup's still-limp body, and she felt a small tremor go through her. Her hands slowly fisting at her sides, she let out a small breath of relief as the Elder scurried out from her home.

The old woman started somewhat at the sight of Hiccup, but she recovered quickly, steeling herself as she beckoned into her home. Stoick shouldered his way into the room, and Astrid slipped through right behind him, hands wringing nervously in front of her as she did so. The Elder pushed her way into the front, getting down to work as soon as she stepped inside the fire-lit room. "Put him there." She said sternly, gesturing to one of the empty beds along her wall. "I'll have to work on him there."

Hiccup did not even move when Stoick placed him on the bed. Astrid flinched away from the sight of his mangled leg, digging her fingernails into her arms as she shied away from the sight. All she could think about was whether or not Hiccup would loose his other leg. "Please let him keep it." She mumbled under her breath, shutting her eyes tightly as she whispered to nobody in particular. She didn't care whether or not anybody saw her, her stomach was twisted into knots upon knots, and she couldn't stop trembling.

The Elder went to work on Hiccup, not even glancing over at Stoick before she started. The chieftain looked awkward where he stood, blue eyes heavy with sadness and anxiousness as he looked down at his son. Astrid fidgeted where she stood, looking down at the ground dejectedly. She decided that she would have to keep count of how many times Hiccup went and died on everybody in Berk. This would be the second time.

Her mind flashed back to what Stoick had said long ago. "'Hiccup might be able to rival Gobber for the amount of limbs lost.'" The thought made her grimace again, what if the chief had been right? Astrid had sat back and watched Hiccup stumble through the snow with a pained expression on his face more times than one. He couldn't be able to handle another injury that severe, it would be far too much for him. The very thought of Hiccup having to stay inside for the rest of his life because he couldn't walk made Astrid nearly want to throw up right on the spot. She shuffled her weight back and forth nervously as she peered around the Elder, trying to catch sight of the boy where she stood. "…Is he going to be okay?" She asked hesitantly.

The Elder didn't give her an answer, not even looking back at her to show that she had heard. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Astrid tried again, louder this time as she raised her voice. "He's going to be fine, right?" She asked. "He wont-"

"I would appreciate some room to work." The Elder snapped, whirling around to glare at the people that surrounded her. Astrid started, chewing on the bottom of her lip as she took a small step backwards. She opened her mouth to say one last thing, but was cut off as a shrill sound reached her eardrums. Turning around, a slow smile spread over her face as she saw the small thing making its way into the house.

Ludi let out another loud mew, tail lashing from side to side as she stumbled forward. Her amber eyes were sharp, like she was demanding an explanation for what was going on, and she sat down with a thump beside Astrid. The blonde let out a small chuckle, bending over and scooping the cat up in her arms, holding her tightly to her chest. The cat pushed her head up against Astrid's cheek, and the girl realized that the kitten was shaking.

Petting her comfortingly, Astrid glancing over at Hiccup's unconscious form. Letting out a slow breath, she gave a small smile. "I'll take care of her for you." She promised softly. Ludi scurried up to perch on her shoulder, and Astrid had to bend her head to the side in order for the cat to stay upright. She realized with a pang that the cat was growing up. Soon there would not be enough for her to stay on her usual perch. Somehow the thought made Astrid even more depressed.

Sighing lightly, the girl turned on her heel and marched out of the house, being the first to do so. Spitelout and Stoick would probably end up staying out of sheer stubbornness. Hiccup was Spitelout's nephew and Stoick's son, they would probably play the Family Card. Considering the fact that Astrid only held the 'Sweetheart' card, she was sent packing from the place. She would just have to stay and wait until she heard news about his condition. Or maybe after the Elder was done working on him. Maybe she would let Astrid back into the house then.

The other Vikings had just finished packing up their dragons, some of the ones who had gotten hurt during the battle with the dragons were limping home slowly, in hopes of being mended by their family members. Astrid walked through the crowd aimlessly, finding Stormfly sitting next to Hookfang. Snotlout stood beside his dragon, and Astrid's heart did a flip as she tried to double back. She did not want to talk to anybody right now.

But Snotlout caught sight of her before she could make her escape, blinking thoughtfully as he stared at her. "Hey." He greeted nonchalantly, his arms crossing over his chest as he raised an eyebrow at her. The girl let out a small huff, her shoulder's slumping as she shuffled back to stand beside Stormfly. She let out a small mummer as she reached up to pet her dragon comfortingly, Ludi blinking rapidly as she lifted her paw to the dragon's face in a copied movement.

"Hey, Snotlout." Astrid sighed, averting her eyes from the teen.

"You okay?" Snotlout asked, looking at her closely. His eyes darted over in the direction of the Elder's house, and he gave her a small smile. "Hiccup will be okay." He promised, Astrid's eyes lifting up to meet his. "After all, worse things have happened, right? He's Hiccup, he can't die. Who else will annoy everybody?"

"Anybody can annoy people." Astrid said thickly, eyes beginning to burn.

"That's where you're wrong." Snotlout said firmly. "It has to be somebody specific, with all the right qualities. They have to be weak, they have to be small, and they have to actually be really cool. Once you get to know them instead of pushing them away, of course." He looked at Astrid with a large smile, staring at her expectantly. But Astrid merely stared at the ground, holding a silence that was extremely tense and awkward.

The silence stretched on, and right when Snotlout was considering leaving, Astrid spoke. Her words were quiet and subdued. Her blue eyes flickered over to meet Snotlout's briefly, but then they darted away once more. "You ever…regret it?" She asked softly, Snotlout's forehead creasing with confusion. "I mean- when we ignored him. When we made fun of him. He was quick to forgive us, but…" She looked over at the Elder's house emptily. "Do you think he ever thinks about those times?"

Snotlout glanced over at Hookfang, mulling the odd question over in his mind. "I dunno." He offered. Astrid looked over at him fully as he went on. "I mean- most people in the village ignored him. But that didn't ever stop him, he had a crush on you ever since he first saw you. Remember that time he gave you that little flower that he said he grew in his house?" A ghost of a smile crept over Astrid's face as he brought the memory up. "And you grabbed it and stomped on it? It might have been mean, and I know I would have hated you if that were me. But the next week he just tried to give you another thing…what was it?"

"A wooden horse." Astrid said, laughing under her breath.

"Yeah. That. You actually kept that though, right?"

Astrid blinked, looking up from the ground as she blinked thoughtfully. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. I don't remember why though." She paused, biting her lower lip as she glanced over at her house. "…Thanks, Snotlout." She said, glancing back at her friend. "But I have to go do something, I'll see you at dinner."

Snotlout lifted up his hand to wave goodbye, and Astrid spun on her heel and raced off. Ludi squealed at the sudden speed, digging her claws into Astrid's shoulder amour as her fur flattened against her face. Astrid's heart felt somewhat lighter, and when she got to her house, she bounced up the steps eagerly. Flying through the house and up the stairs, she barley even noticed her mother's shout asking what happened on the search. She only realized the question when she got inside her room, and by that time she just threw the thought over her shoulder.

Ludi leapt off of her shoulder and onto her bed with a silent thump. The cat watched curiously as the girl dove forward into her closet, throwing and tossing clothes around the room carelessly as she searched for one item. Ludi's head tilted to the side cutely as she watched, and she settled herself down on the ground comfortably, kneading the blanket as she made herself at home. Her ears flattened her head as she lied her head down, and she stared ahead emptily as she wondered what was wrong with Hiccup. The boy looked like he was asleep in the Elder's house, but Ludi seriously doubted that idea. Why would he be so still if he was asleep? She slept beside him every night, and he always tossed and turned in his sleep. And the blood that covered him…her fur bushed out with fright, and she made a conscious effort to flatten her silver fur and calm down.

After a few minutes, Astrid finally straightened, a small wistful sigh coming from her as Ludi looked curiously at her back. She was holding something, and the cat propped herself up somewhat, craning her neck to try and catch sight of what was in her hands. But the blonde spun around to face Ludi, and the cat blinked with confusion at what she held.

It was a small wooden toy that looked like an animal Ludi had never seen before. It was beautifully made, though, detail strong and pretty from where the cat sat. Intricate swirls and designs covered the toy, and Ludi knew instantly that whoever made that toy put real thought and hard work into it. She let out a small, quizzical mew, and Astrid jumped as if she had been roused from a dream. Smiling warmly, the girl got down on her knee by the bed, Ludi taking that as an invitation as she hopped onto the girl's shoulder.

Cradling the horse in her hands, Astrid turned her smile down at the thing, laughing softly under her breath. The memory of that day was held in the swirling pattern on the saddle of the horse, and Astrid wondered how a small eight-year-old could have ever managed to make it so pretty. Maybe that was the only reason she kept it back then, she thought that Hiccup was an idiot back then, of course. It was a decent horse, and Astrid could just imagine herself as a younger version, snatching the toy away from Hiccup without a word of thank-you, spinning around and running away. But that was probably what Hiccup had been expecting.

The girl shook herself, turning and marching out of her room and back down the stairs. Her mother blinked from where she stood in the kitchen, a smile spreading over her face as she saw what was in Astrid's hands. "Well, I declare!" She laughed, Astrid shooting her a look. "What made you dig that out? I remember that small thing. You loved it so much, playing with it every day you could!" Her mother paced forward, taking the toy from her and looking at it with a smile. "Didn't Hiccup make you this?"

Reddening at once, Astrid snatched the thing out of her hands, making it rough on purpose. "Of course not!" She snapped grouchily, her mother giggling as she glared sourly at her. "I just…found it AND STOP IT." She tucked the toy under her arm and ran out the door, leaving her mother laughing from behind her. Pursing her lips sourly, Astrid threw a glare over her shoulder as she made her way through the snow.

Looking back forward, she let her face let go of its frown, letting out a small sigh. Snotlout watched her as she passed him up, catching sight of the horse and snickering under his breath. If this had happened a long time ago, Astrid would have just acted indifferently, waiting disconnectedly for news about the 'Useless.' And now she was going to go give him that toy. It seemed like some of Hiccup's kindness had rubbed off on her.

Approaching the Elder's house, Astrid sucked in a deep breath. She had a right to be in there, she had a right to be anywhere really. If the Elder told her off, she would just go right back at her. Although even most male Vikings never challenged the Elder…this might not be such a good idea. But she shook herself for the second time, reaching over and pushing open the door.

Spitelout was gone, Astrid didn't see him in the room. But Stoick still sat in the room, watching anxiously at the Elder, who was still hunched over Hiccup's small form. She seemed to be concentrating, not even looking up as the door closed with a soft slam. Astrid winced at the loud noise though, blinking as she straightened.

She couldn't go over and put it by Hiccup, he was being worked on. Sighing, she realized that she would have to do it sooner or later. The Elder could snap at her any moment to get out, and the girl wanted to leave it here now. Shuffling over, Astrid stood beside Stoick, reaching over and tapping his shoulder hesitantly.

The chief started at the touch, looking over at her and smiling as he saw her. He opened his mouth to say something, but Astrid pushed the horse into his hands before he could say anything. She was flustered, and she went red in the face as she looked at the man shyly. "This is for Hiccup." She said, the chief looking down thoughtfully at the gift. "He'll know what it is when he wakes up." She glanced over at Hiccup's form for a moment before adding. "Just tell him it's from me."

"Astrid!" The Elder snapped, pausing from her work as she turned and glowered at the girl. "I thought I told you that you needed to leave. Stoick can stay, but you need to get out. I have to work here, and I can't have distractions! Leave, unless next time you have a sickness, I'll give you something that you don't want to know what it is!"

Astrid was happy to leave though. Ducking her head, the blonde turned and scurried quickly out of the house. Pausing at the door, she turned back to look at Hiccup. She let a small smile grace her face before she turned and ran off outside.

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A/N: I have to go get ready for a Christmas Eve party I'm going to! If I don't update tomorrow, you need to tell me all that you got for Christmas! Alright? I want to know every little thing! Even the stuff you get in your stockings that you never end up using! …Or is that just me? XDD

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! :D


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: HEY. I have an idea! Let's have a little contest thingie! (Yep…I'm stupid *derp face*) Let's find character's theme songs for this story! I find that finding theme songs is quite fun actually, and I think you all should give it a try! Nightflight needs a song, Toothless needs a song, will you all find the perfect song for Hiccup? :3

WHO HAD A VERY MERRY SNOGGLETOG OUT THERE? ANYBODY DRINK ANY YAKNOG FOR ME? Tell me ALL ABOUT IT. Here is what I got: Boots for my Hiccup cosplay that look PERFECT. A Toothless Pillow Pet. The eighth book in the HTTYD series. Other boots for my Hiccup cosplay that looked bad so we are returning them tomorrow. And…A GIGANTIC TOOTHLESS ACTION FIGURE THAT SHOOTS OUT FIRE AND ROARS AND HAS HICCUP RIDING ON HIS BACK. :D

…I'm sleeping with ALL of it tonight. And my dog Tinkerbell, who DOES NOT SLEEP IN HER BED. Tinkerbell. *throws her a look where she sits*

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Night had fallen over the village of Berk, making it easy for Toothless to remain unseen. Swooping downwards to the ground, the Night Fury landed on the ground silently, folding his wings close to his sides as he did so. The dragon perked up, ears flicking to the side as he scanned the clearing. The only light that shone was from the torches that lined the pathways, bathing the square in a flickering orange light. Nobody was in sight, and Toothless let out a relieved sigh.

He started to take a step forward, but froze immediately, backing away into the shadow of one of the houses. Flattening his ears to his head, the Night Fury ducked his head to look at the ground. He couldn't be seen here, they would find him and do who-knows-what in revenge. He knew for a fact that Astrid had spread the word about him around to all of the Vikings. If he was caught, he didn't know what he would do.

Letting out a small whimper, Toothless craned his neck to look around the corner of the house, blinking as his eyes landed on Hiccup's home immediately. The dragon let out a small whine at the familiar image, a pang of homesickness shaking him to the bone. It was stronger than he had anticipated, and he longed to race forward and let out a loud howl of greeting. He longed to throw himself through the door and rush over to Hiccup to see if his human was alright. But he wasn't allowed to do that. He'd never do that. Not ever.

He would never know if Hiccup was okay. If Astrid was. How Hiccup would grow up. Whether or not he would get another dragon in time. If in time Hiccup would have children (he always used to rant about how he didn't like kids at times). All of that knowledge would escape him. He let out a small huff of sadness, hesitating for a moment as he stared at the building a moment longer. But then he shook himself, backing away and turning around.

He raised his snout to the air and gave a tentative sniff, ears wriggling as he did so. He was narrowing down where he could go. He wouldn't leave Berk. It was true when he said that this was his home. Although he couldn't go long before he was discovered, no matter how careful he was. Maybe he would just stay here for some time. Before he really had to leave. He was reluctant to leave this place, and he knew in the back of his mind that he would put off leaving until it was absolutely necessary. And even then he might just move somewhere else.

The thought of hiding his whole life did not appeal to the dragon that much for obvious reasons of course. But he really didn't have anything else to do. Forcing his legs into motion, Toothless pushed himself onward, walking away briskly from the village. His life had revolved around being with Hiccup. If he couldn't be with Hiccup, he had nothing else he could do or be anymore.

He decided that he would go to the only place where he would be happy on the island without Hiccup. The closest thing to being with Hiccup. The dragon turned and started to head to the spot, ears flattening to his head uncomfortably as he passed by Hiccup's home once more. Forcing himself to not look at it, Toothless quickened his pace to a silent run, flashing away from the village and disappearing into the foliage in less that an instant.

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His eyes flickered open ever so slightly just to shut them closed once more from the blinding light that met him. Head ringing with pain, he opened his eyes slowly as he became aware of his surroundings. He was stiff and sore, skin itching and burning where there were cuts and gashes. Hiccup let out a small groan as he reached up to hold one side of his head, trying to clear his mind by blinking.

Hesitating for a moment, Hiccup pushed himself up to look around the room. He was at his house now, the fire flickering and crackling in the hearth and lighting the room with a soft glow. The Viking was confused for a moment or two about why he was here. He didn't remember coming into his house.

But then it hit him. What happened with Toothless in the cave, the attack. It hit him so hard that he gasped sharply, one hand flying over to grip one of his wounds tightly. His eyes were wide as he looked at the blanket, and one sentence ran over and over in his head. He had failed. He had failed to go save Toothless, and he had failed to make it out of there on his own. But that meant that they had gone after him in order for him to be here. Or maybe…Toothless brought him back here!

A smile slowly spread over his face. It made sense, after all. The dragon could fly on his own now with his tailfin! Hiccup could imagine the Night Fury snapping out of it and flying back to Berk with him. Maybe he was outside right now, waiting for him! Looking up, Hiccup felt a light feeling that he had not felt in more than two weeks. Toothless was back! Toothless was going to stay here and-

"Hiccup?" His name snapped him back to reality, the boy turning to look at the direction the voice had come from. Astrid stood in the doorway of his kitchen, blinking rapidly as she looked at him. She held a small platter of food and drinks, by the way the sun was up it must have been around lunchtime. The blonde looked surprised to see him up to say the least, but she quickly smiled at him. "You're awake! That's great! You know- because if you died, then I would have to kill you."

Ignoring the last part, Hiccup glanced around the room. "What do you mean, die?" He asked, his voice quiet from not being used in a long time. "How long was I asleep?"

Astrid pursed her lips, looking out the window with a thoughtful expression. Pacing forward, she went to sit on the edge of his bed, placing the platter in between them as an invitation to share. "A few days." She said, Hiccup blinking with surprise as she spoke. "I was pretty sure that you were going to loose your other leg or something, but the Elder managed to save it this time." Looking at the boy from the corner of her eye, Astrid's eyes flashed. "You just want to make a hobby of scaring me, don't you?"

"I already made it." Hiccup said firmly, reaching over and taking a slice of fruit. "Hey- where's Toothless? Is he outside?"

Astrid stiffened at the question, blue eyes flashing over to Hiccup quickly. She swallowed the piece of food uncomfortably, her hands falling to be in her lap. When she spoke, she spoke quietly, voice slightly subdued as she glanced at him. "Hiccup, you know what Toothless did." She said, watching as Hiccup deflated in front of her. "He attacked you, Hiccup. He was so close to KILLING you. We couldn't let him come back with us. You know Stoick would never let that happen." She hesitated a moment before adding. "I'm sorry. Toothless is still gone."

"But…but how did I get back here then…?" He asked weakly, looking around helplessly.

"I knew better than to let you take charge of yourself, Hiccup." Astrid said calmly, not even flicking an eyelid. "As soon as you left I went and told Stoick what you were planning," She ignored Hiccup's sharp glare. "and he set up a rescue party to go after you at once. We set out and then we got lost. Stormfly found us though. She lead us to where you were quickly. We went into the cave and then we managed to rescue you before anything worse happened."

"Stormfly." Hiccup grumbled. "I thought she just left to go back to Berk."

Astrid shook her head from side to side. "Stormfly isn't like that." She assured him.

There was silence that followed her words. Astrid looked at Hiccup with concern in her eyes, the boy was looking down with sadness, shoulders slumped as he looked down. Something was bothering him other than Toothless it seemed, but right when she opened her mouth to ask, he spoke up, his voice quiet. "You left Ludi there?" He whispered.

"Why would we do that?" Astrid asked, giving him an odd look. "Did you WANT to leave her there? I thought you finally started to like her. She's over by the fire, if you want to get rid of her, it might not be so easy. She wouldn't sleep for such a long time without you, I just managed to trick her into going to sleep. You don't even wanna KNOW how bad it was to get her to eat. She wouldn't eat human food without it being shoved into her mouth. But I guess I can take her, I mean, she's really adorable and-"

Hiccup wasn't listening anymore. His heart hammered against his chest, and he spun around to look at the fire again. Before, he had barley seen the small fluff of fur that was lying down beside the fire. Now he could see that it was indeed Ludi. The small cat's ears were flicking from side to side as she dreamed, and Hiccup let out a relieved breath, smiling to himself. "She tried to protect me from that female, I thought she was dead."

Astrid let out a small chuckle. "No. She made far too much trouble here the last few days to be dead." Pausing for a moment, she blinked as she looked down at Hiccup's blanket. "Hey- can you walk on your leg yet?" She asked, Hiccup starting at the question. "It looked pretty bad, the Elder said that you should try and exercise it. But she said to be careful. No running or anything."

"Well, what does she want me to do?" Hiccup huffed. Astrid stood up from the bed, and Hiccup shifted his covers off of him. His prosthetic leg was already in place, it must have been left on by the Elder. His other leg was still there thank Thor. Reaching out and giving it a small prod, Hiccup immediately winced at the tingling pain that followed the movement. Astrid looked at him carefully for a moment in silence before a slow smile spread over her face.

She reached out her hand to Hiccup, the boy looking up at her curiously as she did so. Slowly, a small red tinge started to show on her cheeks, and she immediately cursed herself mentally for the fact. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she looked at Hiccup a little shyly. "I have an idea." She said. When Hiccup merely looked at her expectantly, she only shook her hand out to him again. "Dance with me, Hiccup." She requested softly.

Slightly surprised by the statement, it took Hiccup a moment to find his voice once more. As he recovered, he let out a small laugh, almost hoping that Astrid had been joking. But her eyes were soft as she held her hand out to him, and he realized that she wouldn't take it back until he refused. Giving a small huff, he looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Astrid, you know I have two left feet." He joked weakly.

Astrid snorted, leaning down and grabbing his hand in her own, trying to pull him up. "Come on, I'll help you." She encouraged. Hiccup let out a dramatic sigh before he finally stood up, immediately staggering on his injured leg. Astrid took his other hand, supporting him carefully as she shot him a small smile. "I'll lead." She offered, Hiccup going red as he looked away from her. He mumbled a reply, and Astrid rolled her eyes before she started to dance.

It was more of them just swaying on the spot, but that was all that Hiccup could do with his leg, really. Astrid gave him a small smile, looking at him through her bangs. "I was really worried about you." She said, breaking the silence. Hiccup looked at her carefully as they swayed together. Astrid made a small noise, reaching over and grabbing Hiccup's hand, putting it around her waist. She saw Hiccup go red at the movement, but she pushed the thought away. "I want you to stop dying on me, alright?" She asked.

Hiccup didn't say anything, and Astrid noted that he was starting to get used to the movements. They started to edge to the side slightly, moving with odd grace considering Hiccup's injury. Astrid squeezed Hiccup's hand tightly, the boy doing the same to her. "You know, even if Toothless is gone…you still have me and Ludi. And that will never change."

Hiccup gave her a crooked smile. "Yeah, I suppose I do." He said brightly. "You've done a lot for me, Astrid. Thank you." The sentence seemed unfinished, and Astrid blinked as she realized what was missing. They had never said it to one another. The thought made her slightly put-out to Hiccup, but she guessed that it was as much of her fault as it was his. She bit her lower lip tightly, the two sidling around the room slowly together.

"Hiccup?"

"Hmm?"

"I want to tell you something." Astrid mumbled, growing warm.

Hiccup tilted his head to the side, blinking. "What is it?"

Before he could do anything else, Astrid lunged forward, pressing her lips to Hiccup's in a kiss. The boy stiffened with surprise for a moment, eyes wide as he looked at Astrid. The two came to a stop in their movements, and Astrid hugged Hiccup tightly as she kissed him. This was the longest kiss the two had shared, usually it was only a small peck from her. But after the fright of almost loosing Hiccup, Astrid realized that she wanted to keep him. She wouldn't know what to do if he died.

Finally, she pulled back, Hiccup looking slightly dazed and caught off-guard as he looked at her. He seemed to be at a loss of what to say, so Astrid said it first. Looking at him straight in the eye, she said it clearly and quickly. "Hiccup, I love you."

Hiccup looked surprised, but Astrid felt warm inside as he didn't even hesitate. "I love you too, Astrid." He said, giving her his classic Hiccup smile that Astrid loved so much. Smiling widely, Astrid leaned forward and hugged him tightly, closing her eyes as she did so. Hiccup did the same, and Astrid pulled back shortly to only press her lips against his right after.

Everything was perfect. And hopefully this time it would stay like that.

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A/N: TASTE THE FLUFFINESS FUUUUUU

I hope you liked :3


	26. Chapter 26

Restlessness followed the next few days. It would come and go, like when Ludi played around the house or when Astrid and him started to talk together. But the jittery feeling always returned soon after, mostly when he was alone. He longed to go outside, he longed to do…something…he didn't know what. He just knew that he had to do something and he could not rest until he did do it.

At night he lied still on his bed, looking glumly across the room over into the corner Toothless used to sleep in. His heart felt heavy, and he slowly realized that he didn't want to get up in the morning. When the sun rose up and he opened his eyes, he only laid there with a sad expression on his face, the ringing pain in his leg shaking him as he stayed still. Ludi usually tried to get him up a few times, prodding him sharply with her claw and bouncing up and down on him. But she always gave up after a while, going down and stretching out in front of his face, trying to block the view of the corner.

He didn't know what made him get this bad, whether it was his failure to bring Toothless back or something else he didn't know. Right now, morning had just come. Hiccup let out a small muffled sound, turning his head and burying it into his pillow, trying to block out the light from the sun. His hands twitched at his sides, and he felt Ludi's paw sticking into his side. Closing his eyes tightly, he blew out a fast breath into the pillow. "Stop, Ludi." He mumbled through the pillow. "Leave me alone."

The cat blinked, drawing her tail tight over herself and flattening her ears to her head. She let out a loud meow, narrowing her eyes slightly as she did so. When Hiccup didn't so anything in response, she meowed again, louder this time. When Hiccup remained still, she started to meow over and over again. Each meow connected to the other, and pretty soon she was just meowing over and over as loud and hard as she could.

"MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW-"

"LUDI STOP IT ALREADY!" Hiccup yelled, turning from the pillow to glare at her hotly. The silver cat looked a little put-out as she snapped her jaws closed. Her fluffy tail flicked back and forth irritably, and her eyes were critical as she looked at her human. His green eyes were filled with anger that he didn't know he had when he glared at her, and under the stare, Ludi shrunk slightly, shuffling her paws as she did so.

Hiccup opened his mouth to say something to her, when there was a loud knocking at the door. The boy blinked, letting out a quiet grumble as he forced himself to sit upright. "Come in." He called loudly, looking at the door with confusion. It opened slowly, and Astrid poked her head inside, looking around the room as if she was expecting something.

"What's going on?" She asked as she saw nothing. Straightening, the blonde came inside the room with hesitation, shutting the door behind her and walking over closer to Hiccup. "From the noise Ludi was making, I thought she was being mauled to death." Pursing her lips, the girl looked at Hiccup with concern. "What're you doing still in bed? Usually you're up and about right now." Tilting her head to the side, she looked at him carefully. "Is there something wrong? Something that you want to talk about?"

Hiccup held her gaze for a moment or two in silence, weighing his choices in his head. Astrid would most likely only get angered by him, he probably shouldn't even try and explain it to her. After all, he didn't really understand it himself. "I'm find, Astrid." He grumbled, turning away from her. Almost unconsciously, his eyes locked on the corner of his room, and almost too late he wondered if Astrid saw where he was looking.

The girl seemed to have a good idea already, and she crossed her arms over her chest as she saw the glance. "Hiccup." She said, a little sharper than usual. "I know what you might be thinking, and I'll tell you right now, you need to stop." When Hiccup didn't look back at her, she narrowed her eyes. "Hiccup, why do you do this to yourself? Come on, please snap out of it! You got healed by the Elder, Ludi is okay…everything is fine! Hiccup- please tell me what you want."

"I don't know what I want!" Hiccup yelled, digging his fingernails into his skull. Astrid blinked at the answer, but didn't have a chance to say anything as Hiccup went on. "I don't know anything anymore! Everything is so messed up! I don't know what to do anymore, which way to go! I'm so confused, and I can't seem to figure anything out! I can't do anything right, everything I do just ends up in disaster."

"Well I don't know how to help you if you don't even know what is going on." Astrid said sharply. "You're not giving me a lot of stuff to work with, you know. I don't see what you want me to do then." She looked at Hiccup silently for a moment or two, remaining still as she stared at him. "You aren't yourself anymore, Hiccup." Astrid spoke quietly. "You haven't been yourself for a long time. There's a part of you missing."

"I'll never get Toothless back." Hiccup mumbled, holding his head in his hands.

"You can get another dragon." Astrid offered weakly, grimacing even as she offered it.

"I don't WANT another dragon!" Hiccup yelled.

"Will you just stop yelling at me?" Astrid shouted. "You don't think that I miss Toothless too! I might say that he's dangerous, but that's just because he is! He's not the dragon that he used to be, and I miss that. I don't miss him here trying to bite everyone's head off, but I miss the way he used to be. People change, sometimes for good, and sometimes for bad. You just have to understand and get past that fact. Toothless wouldn't want you sitting around moping like you have been the past few days. He's want you to move on. And you have to do what he would have wanted."

"How do you know that for sure?" Hiccup sighed, looking over at her glumly.

Astrid scuffed the ground with her foot, blinking largely at the Viking boy. "…I don't." She said simply. "Not positively. But it's something that Toothless would do, isn't it? Maybe you wont find Toothless again, but there's a lot more things in this world than dragons." Ludi hopped up onto Astrid's shoulder as she spoke, and the blonde looked down briefly at the small thing. "You can't shut out the world, because then you would never know all of the wonderful stuff that's in it. Am I right?"

"Hmm." Hiccup sighed softly, looking over once more at the corner. Astrid stood patiently, not interrupting him this time as she looked on. Hiccup's shoulders slumped, then tensed, as if he were bracing himself. Turning back to her, he blinked slowly, giving her a weak smile. "Why don't we go to the Hall for breakfast?" He offered.

"You mean lunch?" Astrid said lightly. But she gave him a smile, seeming satisfied with his effort. "I'll take Ludi, I'll meet you there, okay?" When Hiccup gave her a small nod, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room. The door closed softly behind her, and Hiccup was left in the room alone once more. The boy glanced over at the corner where Toothless had been, swallowing a lump in his throat as he did so.

But as he stared at the small corner, something in his mind clicked. Slowly, his eyes narrowed into angered slits, and his hand fisted up in the covers as determination swelled up inside him. Pushing himself out of bed, he put his injured leg down on the ground gingerly, wincing as a sharp twinge traveled up his limb. Biting his lower lip, Hiccup started forward, limping severely as he made slow progress for the door.

Slowly but surely, he made his way out of the house. The air was cold as usual, but it was like heaven to Hiccup. He hadn't been outside in days, and he relished in the cold wind as it dragged its fingers through his hair. He turned and started walking in the opposite direction of the Mess Hall. He was heading for the forest, despite the promise he had made to Astrid. He knew in the back of his mind that she would be furious, but he didn't want to think about that right now.

The trees and tall grass brushed by him as he went, staggering through the forest like an injured animal. The village was starting to fall back behind him, and he hoped that nobody saw him before he could be hidden behind the tree line. But he made it without being seen, and immediately relief washed over him as he became hidden from the eyes of the village. The greenery around him shielded him from others who might stop him. Astrid was right when she said that she didn't trust him to take care of himself. But…he was Viking. He had stubbornness issues.

And those certainly came up at the worst moments. Hiccup traveled the worn path of the forest slowly, staggering and limping along slowly. Usually he favored his real leg, but as of now he was leaning heavier on his fake one. It made small squeaking noises as he stepped hard on it, and he winced at the small pain that went up his side. He still wasn't very handled with his prosthetic. But at the sight of his sewn-up other leg, he figured it was a minor setback than using his real one and having more pain on him.

The trek was taking longer than usual, and when he was only halfway there, Hiccup was sweating and panting for air that wouldn't come to him. His chest was constricted, and his leg was screaming in pain. He grimaced, but did not give up. He couldn't just give up on something like this, he very rarely gave up with anything. Unless it was something to do with flexibility or agility, then he just walked away from that one.

Shaking himself, he pushed onward painfully, gritting his teeth as he staggered forward. He tried to distract himself from the pain by noticing all the little things around him. The mist of dew on the tree's few leaves. The slight breeze ruffling the grass and making it sway back and forth. The sharp sunlight that shone brightly now through the bare trees.

A whopping hour later, Hiccup made it to his destination. He was overworked, tired, and hot as he gasped sharply for air, clutching his stomach tightly. But he had made it, and that was all that mattered. He had to do this, it was all that was left. Leaning against a large rock, Hiccup looked up to the familiar place, a small smile crossing over his face as he nodded once.

He had made it to the cove.

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A/N: THIS WAS A HARD CHAPTER TO WRITE! T^T

But I hope you like it! And I hope you will be tuned in for the next chappie :D


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: I'm getting a lot of songs for Hiccup! So far I like "Great Escape" and "Slipped away" for him! :D

Anyway, the last chapter sucked. So I'm going to make it up to you hopefully for this chapter. And this…is the second to last chapter! So next chapter will be the last!

Get ready to say goodbye to the Easy Bake ovens….: (

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Pushing himself forward, Hiccup balanced on the rock face carefully, holding onto the wall for support. The Viking was puffing for air, and as he leaned forward to looked down at the rock trail that led down, Hiccup swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. But he just sucked in a deep breath, steeling himself as he eyed the journey down. He could do it, he had done it so many times before. This wasn't any different. Hopefully he could get down there without the whole falling-and-then-slapping-his-face-into-the-ground thing.

Leaning over awkwardly, Hiccup positioned himself to sit down on one of the rocks, his tongue sticking out with concentration as he started to scoot down slowly. The snow under him made loud crunching noises as he scooted along, and it made the path even more difficult. He cursed under his breath as he slipped, nearly falling off of the rock as he did so. Steadying himself, he started once more, careful where he pushed himself and being mindful of the ice on some of the rocks.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hiccup finally landed on solid ground with a relieved sigh. His leg was burning, and the boy winced as pain flickered up his limb. Leaning over, the Viking scooped up some snow and pressed it against his thigh with a sharp intake of breath. At first the snow burned with cold, stinging his wounds with a sharp feeling. But then the hurt melted away to be replaced by a cool feeling, Hiccup immediately relaxing as he let himself go limp. He stayed like that for a while, pressing more and more snow onto his leg. After a while, his limb had gone numb, the pain gone for now. That was all he needed, and Hiccup pushed himself up shakily to his feet, righting himself as he straightened.

The cove was barren, empty as he let a small frown cross over his face. His shoulders slumped, and memories and images of him and Toothless crowded his mind. They spent as much time as they could here, it was their special place to be. The boy felt the heavy feeling return back into his heart, and he felt himself pacing forward slowly, walking around the cove with a limp. With the wound that Toothless had given him. His own dragon.

What used to be his dragon. Astrid had been right when she had spoken to him, as much as he hated to admit it. It wasn't Toothless anymore, which was why he shouldn't dwell in the past. Toothless was gone, and even if the dragon came back, it wouldn't be him. It would be a destructive monster. It would be a bloodthirsty Night Fury, and nothing he could ever do would change that.

The thought made his gasp, the boy turning and flattening his back against the cold rock wall. One hand went up and clutched at his chest, and he slowly sunk down to sit on the ground with a heavy thump. Bringing his knee up, he leaned over and rested his forehead down, staring at the ground with wide eyes. It just wasn't fair, Toothless didn't deserve anything like that. He didn't deserve anything close to that! He was one of the best dragons in the village, not some creature that needed to be killed! Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, Hiccup tried to control his breathing, which was coming in thick, sharp gasps. He just had to calm down, but he couldn't.

He was surrounded by something that held a large part of his heart, and the piece had just been dropped. He could feel it dropping and then shatter on the ground. He almost expected to hear a large crashing sound, but it was silent. Not even a dead leaf rustled to break the silence. The whole place was holding its breath, watching in dead silence.

Hiccup could feel something watching him, and the boy jerked back up, head whirling around to try and find the intruder. He hadn't noticed he had been crying, but now the wind made his wet tear trails noticeable, and he immediately tried to wipe them off roughly. He grumbled as he did so, looking back up once more to see who had caught him out here on his own. Surely they would be cross that he had snuck out of the village. Even more so if it was the Elder herself, though she hardly ever left the village.

But nobody was there. Hiccup was blinked, leaning over and narrowing his eyes in confusion. Sure enough, the place was empty. Nobody else was there but him. The small pond in the middle of the cove went undisturbed, and the few leaves and scraggly bushes didn't even waver. It was exactly like it was when he first got here. Still not making any noise (or trying his best not to), Hiccup stood back upright, holding on the wall for support briefly before letting go.

Sucking in a deep breath, Hiccup started forward, eyes still narrowed as he looked around the cove. "Who's there?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly as he limped along. For a moment, a possible explanation wriggled its way cruelly into his head, but he shook himself roughly. It wasn't possible, it just wouldn't make sense. Grinding his teeth together, he called out one last time, coming to a halt and looking around. Still, nobody made an appearance. Nobody could be seen. But he still felt the odd sensation of being watched…

He let out a sigh, his bangs fluttering up as he did so. One arm lifted and gripped the other, Hiccup looking at the ground sadly. He supposed that it was time to leave then…Astrid would be even angrier if he stayed any longer. He stayed still. After all- there wasn't anything here for him to do. It was lunch time too. Still, he did not move. The village would probably notice he was gone. He really should go. Still as a statue. He couldn't move. Not even if he wanted to.

He turned around slowly, blinking at the cove with round eyes. He couldn't leave this place, it was all he had left of the old Toothless. The large lump came back into his throat, and he tried to swallow it down, but it stuck in the center of his throat. He let out a shaky sigh, and he felt his eyes blurring once more. Over there was where he had lost his shield. Over there was where Toothless and him drew together. Over there was when Toothless was chasing the reflected light from his hammer. And all around was where they had become close friends. All around him were memories, some of his happiest memories. And they were all out of reach.

Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut tightly, feeling tears leak out immediately after the movement. "Oh Gods." He muttered, hands reaching up and fisting in his hair tightly. He told himself to pull it together, but he knew it was a lost cause. "Gods, Toothless." He breathed out, letting his hands slap down to his sides. Looking back up, he scanned the place one last time, green eyes heavy and round with sadness and grief. He started to turn around (awkwardly because of his bad leg) when, very quietly, he heard a familiar noise. A roar.

Hiccup spun around immediately, ignoring the pain in his leg as he whirled around with wide eyes. His mouth had broken into a smile, and he waited for the familiar form of Toothless to leap out at him. But that didn't happen. What DID happen, was a small black shape careening into him, knocking him over and sending him sprawling onto the ground.

Jumping back to his feet, Hiccup looked down wildly at the ground, looking at the small thing incoherently for a moment or two before he blinked. Recognition flashed through him and his eyes narrowed in confusion. "It's you…?" He asked, bending over to get a better look. "But…how? How did you know how to get here?"

The tiny Night Fury from before blinked up largely at him, tiny wings limp at his sides as he panted. He barely looked old enough to fly, that might explain how it took him forever to get here. Astrid did say that he had been out for a long time. And even longer when he was shut up inside. The thing looked exhausted, panting loudly. But his eyes shone with happiness as he looked up at the human. It looked like he knew and recognized Hiccup from before too.

Leaning down to be on his knees, Hiccup reached over and held his hand out for the small dragon. He immediately pressed his nose to his palm and cooed loudly, tail lashing back and forth contentedly. Seeing the sight made Hiccup snatch his hand back as he looked down at the baby with wide eyes. He looked so much like Toothless that it almost felt like a slap in the face for Hiccup. The boy jumped slightly, blinking with round eyes down at the small dragon. But it didn't seem like the baby was doing it on purpose, why would it?

It seemed to find the new place interesting to say the least. The small youngling gave a wriggle of his hindquarters, leaping forward and bouncing along the path around the pond. Hiccup watched it with an empty expression, feeling the hollowness in his heart growing with every bound the thing gave. It was like salt being hammered into his wounds as he watched the dragon. He chewed on his bottom lip and tore his gaze away from the youngling, feeling his shoulders jerking strangely.

"THIS IS GREAT! THIS IS SO COOL! I'VE NEVER BEEN IN A PLACE LIKE THIS! I'M GOING TO STAY HERE FOREVER! I LOVE IT HERE ALREADY!" Shadowclaw crowed loudly as he ran, feeling exhilarated with each slap of his feet on the ground. He had never been outside the cave before, and he hadn't really noticed the flight here. He had been too exhausted to do anything but flounder around in the air clumsily. It took forever to find this place, he had to ask for directions from birds and passing dragons that came along randomly. He had thought that he would just flop down, but all of a sudden he felt a sudden rush of energy. He felt like he could zoom all the way home and back in less than ten minutes. Which of course, he would not try.

The human had not tried to play with him yet though. Shadowclaw skidded to a stop, perking his ears as he looked at the human with a tilted head. It looked sad. Its head was down, its eyes were closed, and its shoulders were shaking. Why was he this sad? He hadn't been sad when Shadowclaw had last seen him. And where was Toothless? The dragon had told Mistyeyes that he was going back with the humans. After following the scent trail of the humans for days, Shadowclaw expected Toothless to be here. After all- that was why Shadowclaw came all this way! He wanted to be with Toothless, not the other Night Furies. So he had left to find his friend once more. But he didn't seem to be here.

The human that had gotten hurt was okay now though, Shadowclaw could see. At least that was good. He had been shocked when he watched Fleetfoot and Nightflight attack his friend that he had made, and Shadowclaw had figured that with wounds like that, the human would surely die. But here he was, at least. Not dead. But he was sitting there oddly like that. Shadowclaw tilted his head to the side in confusion. He lifted up one paw, ready to head over and see what was wrong, when from behind him, he heard the smallest of a noise.

Spinning around, the youngling's ears flicked as the sound was cut off immediately. It was coming from behind a large rock at the end of the clearing, opposite of where Shadowclaw and the human were standing. Glancing over at the hunched shape of the human, Shadowclaw turned back and started forward, head still tilted to the side. He quickened his pace, and pretty soon, he was charging for the rock, tail lashing behind him as he ran.

Skidding to a stop, the dragon blinked, surprise lighting his eyes as he rounded the corner. For a moment, he couldn't say anything, eyes round and large as he looked at the crouched figure. But then he tried out the smile that he had learned a while back, wings fluttering rapidly at his sides. "Toothless!" He cheered, the dragon straightening somewhat as he called out his name.

The adult fixed him with a glare, making a quiet, sharp noise at him that made the youngling scoot back slightly. "Shh!" He hissed angrily. "Don't make my presence known! I've been hiding this whole time, don't ruin it, Shadowclaw! Why are you even here?" The dragon's eyes flashed to where the human was sitting, going back to Shadowclaw when he saw that he had not moved from where he sat.

"I-I came to be with you." Shadowclaw said nervously, eyeing his hunched form. "Why are you hiding like that? I thought that you said you were going back to be with the human. Isn't he over there?" Glancing back at the human, Shadowclaw continued. "If you're playing hide-and-seek with him, you might want to come out now. I think he's getting frustrated. He can't find you."

Toothless's ears flattened at what the youngling had said, glancing back over sadly at Hiccup. What Shadowclaw said was truth in its own words. "I can't go back, they would never let me." He mumbled. When Shadowclaw looked over at him expectantly, Toothless sighed, continuing in a small whisper. "I hurt Hiccup. His leg is mangled all because of me…they would never let me return. And maybe they're right." Toothless looked at the ground sadly. "I can't believe I hurt Hiccup so bad, I would never dream of doing something like that. Maybe I'm better off alone. I don't want to hurt him ever again."

"Did you do it on purpose?"

Toothless started. "What?"

"Did you hurt Hiccup on purpose?" Shadowclaw pressed. "Did you hurt him willingly?"

"…that could be answered in each way." Toothless muttered, looking down at the ground. "But it doesn't matter. The fear. The fear in his eyes when I pinned him down. I'll never forget it. He was frightened of me." The dragon's voice cracked, and he closed his eyes. "He journeyed out to rescue me, and all I did was nearly kill him. I did nothing. I didn't even try to fight back when I watched him being attacked."

Shadowclaw blinked slowly. "But he's sad." He said quietly.

Toothless did not say anything, his eyes closing tightly as he refused to look at Shadowclaw. It was like he was ashamed of himself, not even being able to glance over at his smaller friend. Shadowclaw's ears flattened to his head, and the youngling shuffled his feet on the ground. He had come here in search of his friend, and now the Night Fury he once knew had been reduced to this.

Was this Nightflight's fault? The female had always been so kind to Shadowclaw, it had been something of a slap in the face when Shadowclaw walked in on her killing Toothless. He had done all he could to save his friend, and now he knew that he had been right in doing so. His friend's life was ruined because of what she did. Shadowclaw hunched over slightly, looking ruefully at Toothless. He opened his mouth to try and say something, but closed it, thinking better of it.

Silence formed between the two, and Shadowclaw could feel the tense emotion in the air as he faced Toothless. Minutes passed, and seconds ticked by. The quiet went undisturbed until there was a sharp gasp from behind Shadowclaw. The dragon turned to the noise, Toothless doing the same. Together, both eyes widened and Toothless stiffened where he sat.

Hiccup stared at Toothless through wide, watery eyes from where he stood from behind Shadowclaw.

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A/N: BUM BUM BUMMMMMMM!

Hopefully this made up for the crappy chapter from before :3

Tell me what you think! Review, Review, Reivew!

The Easy Bake ovens will miss you! Review a lot for them T^T


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Last Chapter! We never reached five hundred…you know how awesome it would have been to have a story that had five hundred reviews! That would have been great! But anyway, did you say your farewell to the Easy Bake ovens? I had to cook all those cookies I got last chapter, that must have been what caused my lack of updates yesterday. I might (keyword Might) make a sequel to this story, but I have no idea as of right now.

So just…stay tuned! :D

Where was I….OH RIGHT. They were having a picnic on the rainbow road. ;)

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Toothless stiffened at once, eyes widening. Shadowclaw's ears flattened to his head, and he scooted backwards to stand behind Hiccup. He shrank back slightly as Toothless glared at him, as if he had messed up somehow. He didn't think that he did anything, it was all Hiccup to come over here. But if he said that to Toothless, it very well could make the Night Fury even angrier at him. So he kept his mouth shut, watching Hiccup with raised eyes as he remained still.

At first, Hiccup expected this to be a joke. The boy waited for somebody to jump out, laughing, just like he expected when he first got Ludi. But once more, nobody came out with a large smile and a snicker. The cove remained empty, leaving Hiccup staring almost incoherently at Toothless. He couldn't believe it, none of it. Where was the female? Was she waiting somewhere to jump down and attack him again? He didn't think that he would be able to do much if that did end up happening, but then again, would he even try and stop her?

The last few days had been nothing to Hiccup. The boy had limped through the last few days with a bleak look on his face. Without Toothless, Hiccup was just back to being the Useless thing he was before the black dragon came back into his life. Something in the back of his mind told him that if the female did indeed leap out at him, he shouldn't do anything. He shouldn't fight back. He waited a few more moments, body tensed as he waited for the impact.

But it never came. Hiccup looked once around the large cove and realized that the female was nowhere to be seen. The baby dragon would have sensed the other Night Fury just like it had known that Toothless was there. Hiccup had arrived at the cove to let go of Toothless and come to terms with him being gone. And now he was standing directly in front of his old dragon, eyes wide as he stared at the dragon emptily.

He felt his eyes starting to burn again, and he tried to push them back before they could come out. Taking a small step forward, his mouth opened into a silent O. It was a moment before an actual noise came out though. "…Toothless?" He asked, his voice quivering. The tailfin was something that Hiccup remembered, and Hiccup saw through his blurry vision the bloody handprint the had pressed onto the surface of the fin. "It is you." He whispered, trying to take another step towards the dragon.

Toothless started, shuffling back and creating the distance once more between him and the human. Hiccup blinked, coming to a confused stop as he looked at Toothless with concern. The dragon's green eyes were critical as he looked at Hiccup, the Viking's heart hammered as he realized what Toothless was trying to do.

But this WAS Toothless. Hiccup knew that for a fact this time. The Night Fury had not made one move to try and attack him, and the female could not be seen anywhere. The dragon's eyes weren't cold and lifeless like the last time Hiccup had seen them. They would have been rounded with the same humor that Hiccup always saw in his eyes, but instead they were heavy with a strange sadness that Hiccup didn't understand.

The Viking stood still for a moment before he ducked his head down into his chest, gripping his arm tightly. His eyes squeezed shut, and he took in a sharp breath. "Toothless?" He asked in a wavering voice. The dragon did not reply to his name, merely staring down at Hiccup with the strange sad eyes. Hiccup felt his shoulders start to shake, and he started once more. "Toothless is this really you?" He asked quickly. "Did you finally come back?"

'If you're playing hide-and-seek with him, you might want to come out now. I think he's getting frustrated. He can't find you.' Shadowclaw's innocent words rang inside Toothless's head, making the dragon flinch backwards. It was true in what the youngling had said, but he couldn't go back. His eyes flashed down to Hiccup's mangled leg, and he saw that it was wrapped tightly with gauze. A faint tinge of blood still showed through the bandages, and the sight made Toothless's stomach flip over rapidly.

He had hurt Hiccup, and he didn't even hesitate when he saw the fear shining in the boy's eyes. It had thrilled him, to see the fear that the boy felt for him. It had made him happy to be clawing Hiccup apart. The thought made him shiver, and the dragon turned away from Hiccup, closing his eyes tightly as he drew his tail over himself tighter. He couldn't bring himself to look at the boy, and he had half a mind to fly away from the clearing before he did anything else that could hurt the boy. He tensed himself, ready to go, when Hiccup cut through his thoughts roughly.

"Toothless!" The dragon turned a full circle to blink slowly at Hiccup. The boy had taken a few steps forward, arms outstretched as a signal for him to wait. The Night Fury scooted back some, but did not take his eyes off of Hiccup's. The boy's green eyes were filled with grief as he stared forlornly at his dragon. He spoke in a mumbled voice that Toothless had to perk his ears for to hear. "You're leaving me again?" Hiccup whispered, looking the dragon up and down. "So…when you left before, it was because you wanted to? It wasn't the female's fault?" Toothless's eyes widened, but Hiccup's hand fisted together at his sides. "Why did you even come back here then?"

Toothless was still. He couldn't move and he didn't want to try and reason with Hiccup. It would do no good, of course, Hiccup couldn't understand him. Hiccup wouldn't hear him even if he put on the longest speech he had ever done. He wouldn't understand when Toothless told him how he remembered everything after Hiccup had placed the handprint on his tailfin. How the Night Fury had gone and killed Nightflight in cold-blooded murder. How Toothless tracked their scent and flew back to Berk. How he had remained hidden for days on end, wracked in grief and self-loathing. Hiccup would understand none of it. All he knew was that Toothless was a monster, and pretty soon, he could picture the boy telling the village of his appearance. Toothless would be dead by sundown.

"No." The dragon started at Hiccup's voice. The boy had turned back to him, narrowed eyes looking right into his as Hiccup glared at him. "I wont believe it." He stated, causing the dragon to blink with confusion. "I wont believe that that was really you. Because it wasn't, I'm sure of it. I don't care what anybody else thinks about you, whether or not they want to kill you or keep you. Because it doesn't matter what they think. When my father found out about it, he wanted to kill you instantly. But I knew it wasn't you, Toothless. And I still know. You would never do anything like that, you would never dream of it."

But the boy had no proof. Toothless's ears flattened down to his head, and he looked at the ground dejectedly. And either way, it didn't make it important. As long at Stoick didn't know that he was being controlled, Toothless had no hope of living in Berk peacefully. He would have no hope of flying alone with Hiccup anymore, and he would have no hope at all to be with the children who adored him. In fact, he would probably be kept in the stables for the rest of his life.

He didn't know why he was still here. Hiccup couldn't see the real world, he couldn't see that Toothless would not be welcomed back into Berk. All he could see was something that wouldn't be possible. But then again…maybe the whole image of dragons on Berk seemed impossible to Hiccup at the time. But that was different or course. It was much different. They had nothing in common. Right?

"If you wanted to kill me," Hiccup spoke up. "then you would have let me fall."

Toothless did not do anything as he spoke, and Hiccup gripped his arm even tighter than before. "Toothless, don't leave me." Hiccup begged, his voice getting smaller as he spoke. "Don't leave me, not again. You're finally away from her, and you're just going to leave again. What about everything we did together…everything we've worked for?" When Toothless refused to say anything, he pressed again. "You're just going to throw it all away, aren't you?

"Toothless, I said this before, and I'm going to say it again. I am…nothing without you. Before you came here, everybody ignored me, and yelled at me, and you saw how Astrid treated me before. It's all because of you that it's all changed, and if you leave…if you leave it will just go back the way it was before. And I can't handle that again. I can't handle being the only one in the village without a dragon. And I couldn't get another dragon after you. You're one of a kind, Toothless…no other dragon could ever dream to compare to you."

Shadowclaw swallowed uncomfortably, looking over at Toothless with round eyes. The dragon still looked as though somebody had stepped on him repeatedly, it didn't look like anything the human said was reaching him at all. The youngling's ears flattened, and his mouth went into a little pout where he sat. "Toothless, you're being ridiculous!" He roared, his words coming out sharper than he meant them to. The adult snapped to attention as he looked down at the child, eyes narrowing. But Shadowclaw only sank his small claws into the ground stubbornly. "You're just sitting there without saying anything! You can't do that! You can't run away from your problems, Toothless! You have to meet them head-on!

"You can't say that you'll hurt him again, because that's stupid! Nightflight isn't here anymore, and she'll never come back! So what makes you think that you'll hurt him again? You might still remember what it was like under Nightflight's power, but look. Hiccup is willing to forget about it and he's the one that can barley walk! He forgave you, and usually when somebody forgives you, you do the same." He paused for a moment, holding the dragon's gaze. When Toothless still looked unconvinced, Shadowclaw said one last time, more gently. "You never know what is going to happen. It might be bad, and it might be good, you never know. But you're Toothless, and that means you can do anything!"

'Buddy, you are amazing!' Toothless stiffened as Hiccup's words from the past forced their way into his mind. He imagined Hiccup's smile, his bright eyes. And when he looked back at the human, there was a ghost of it on his face. A faint tugging on the edges of his lips as he looked down at Toothless. The dragon sat up straighter, his wings fluttering nervously at his sides. Once again, there was some truth in Shadowclaw's words, if not all of it, some of it. Not all of it was exactly truth to Toothless's ears.

He looked carefully at Hiccup, at the boy that he had first met in the woods. He remembered the boy pulling out a knife, the small blade flashing in the early morning light of the dank forest. He remembered the fear he felt when Hiccup raised the knife, closing his eyes tightly as the human tried to muster up the courage to kill the large beast he had encountered. But he ended up cutting him free with his knife, watching as he flew away clumsily. Why couldn't he have had that same attitude? Why couldn't he have let Hiccup go before he almost killed him? Why couldn't he have followed his human's example?

Maybe he still had things to learn from Hiccup. He had learned to smile, make friends, fly, and do the impossible with Hiccup. Hiccup had learned that not every hero has to be big and tough like Snotlout from him. He supposed that neither of them were through with each other, the thought almost making him smile to himself.

But Hiccup saw the flash of humor, blinking as his smile started to show a little more. His eyes shone a little brighter, and Toothless saw the familiar shine that he had not seen in Hiccup's eyes ever since Nightflight had first came to Berk. That was it, of course. It was all Nightflight's fault that this happened. It might have been Toothless's fault also, but it had defiantly not been Hiccup's. He shouldn't punish the boy more by leaving him again. He thought of the hollow feeling he had in his heart when he was alone, and instantly he knew that Hiccup had the same feeling in himself.

The dragon hesitated before he got to his feet, edging closer to Hiccup. The boy was prone to trouble, this was bound to happen eventually. It was just another thing that the two had to overcome, but like they did with the Red Death. In order to recover, Toothless had to help Hiccup and become a part of this too. Hopefully it would be easy, hopefully it wouldn't last long. They could do it, all they needed was each other.

Hiccup stared at Toothless for a moment or two before his hand twitched at his side. Shadowclaw watched with wide eyes as the boy's hand lifted up, reaching over to Toothless, and pausing right in front of his snout. The gesture was just of that when Shadowclaw had first met Hiccup, the boy having done the same thing to him in a greeting. But it seemed to have an even deeper meaning for Toothless, the dragon eyeing the hand with an unreadable gaze.

It seemed like an eternity, but Toothless leaned forward slowly, pressing his snout into Hiccup's hand warmly, closing his eyes as he did so. Hiccup looked at his dragon, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His hand felt warm where Toothless nuzzled it, and Hiccup could literally feel the hole in his heart mending itself slowly. Toothless's was doing the same.

Hiccup let a smile come over his face, and he let out a small laugh.

They could overcome it.

After all- all they needed was each other.

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A/N: You must pay $50 for a Tissue. I am selling them :3 BUY SOME. D:

I hope you all liked the ending! I did my best and made it cliché ^^

Review and say your farewells! I might make a sequel, but I'm still thinking about it!

GOODBYE AND MAYBE WE SHALL SEE ONE ANOTHER VERY SOON! ^^


	29. Chapter 29

SO I UPLOADED THE SEQUEL! I REALIZED I WAS MISSING A FEW PEOPLE FROM HERE, SO GO CHECK IT OUT! I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! IT'S CALLED ILLUSION! :D


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